Snow falling in Stanislaus County? Yup, it happened
A cold storm blew through the Modesto area on Thursday, bringing wind, rain and even snow to some parts of Stanislaus County.
California Highway Patrol officer Thomas Olsen sent The Bee photos and video of snow falling and sticking at the Stanislaus/Santa Clara County line in Del Puerto Canyon outside Patterson early Thursday afternoon. The site is about 1,500 feet above sea level, lower than most snow falls in the area.
“It’s officially the first snow of the decade for Stan County ... we think,” the CHP wrote in a post on its Facebook page.
In much of the rest of the county, rain started falling late Thursday morning as a band of heavy precipitation started moving through.
The National Weather Service predicted rain and windy conditions, with heavy snowfall in the higher elevations. Forecasters predicted whiteout conditions along some mountain roads and possible “major travel impacts.”
In Modesto, the Modesto Irrigation District reported more than a tenth of an inch of rain had fallen in the hour between noon and 1 p.m, and another .13 of an inch between 2 and 3 p.m.
Pacific Gas & Electric reported a power outage in Oakdale, affecting roughly 2,300 customers. It was not immediately known if the outage was weather related. The California Highway Patrol reported several accidents in the region.
The rain and snow are expected to clear out by Friday, which should see partly sunny conditions and a high of 55 degrees. Saturday and Sunday are more of the same, the Weather Service says, with lows dropping into the upper 30s.
The next chance for rain is Monday, when another potential storm moves in, forecasters say.
This story was originally published January 16, 2020 at 12:28 PM.
