Rain has moved out of Modesto for now. What you can expect this New Year’s weekend
It’s going to be brisk and sunny in Modesto over the next few days, a respite from the 2.5 inches of rain that fell here in a little more than a week.
The foothills and Sierra also will enjoy the respite but still are recovering from all the snow that fell at higher elevations.
“It will be nice to have a little sunshine for folks to dig out,” said Dore Bietz, Tuolumne County’s office of emergency services coordinator, on Thursday.
She said the snow has downed trees and caused several thousand Pacific Gas & Electric customers to lose power — a big deal in a county of about 54,000 residents. Crews continue to work on restoring power.
She said the Tuolumne Utilities District is asking customers to conserve water after the storms damaged part of the Tuolumne Main Canal, which supplies water to nearly all of the TUD’s customers. Repairs to the canal are expected to be completed Saturday.
The National Weather Service is forecasting a high of 46 and a low of 33 degrees for Modesto on Friday, a high of 44 and a low of 34 for Saturday, and a high of 49 with a low of 36 Sunday. Expect morning frost. And while Friday is expected to be partly sunny, the weekend should be clear and bright.
Bietz said the huge snowfall has drawn “copious amounts of visitors” to Tuolumne County to enjoy the snow, to their weekend homes and to ski at Dodge Ridge. “Lots of folks are coming to see the snow,” she said.
The Modesto Irrigation District reports the most recent storms have increased Modesto’s rain total to 8.86 inches in the current rain year, with nearly three months left in winter.
Modesto received 9.4 inches for all of the 2020-21 rain year and 6.54 inches for 2019-20 rain year. About 12 inches falls in a typical rain year, which MID marks as July 1 to June 30.
The National Weather Service forecasts the next chance for rain in Modesto starting Monday. Bietz said the weather system could bring 8 to 12 inches of snow to Sonora Pass, which sits at 9,643 feet elevation. She said this last system was forecast to bring as much as 100 inches to the pass.
