AccuWeather California expert Ken Clark breaks down the latest pattern on the West Coast.
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00:00Right now I want to bring in our California expert. He has been forecasting the weather
00:05here at AccuWeather for over 40 years. He makes me feel like I'm young again,
00:10kind of, but we all know that I'm not. Meteorologist Ken Clark. You know, Ken,
00:15what I find so fascinating about California, it's like once the pattern sets up, it seems like that
00:22pattern just keeps on doing the same thing in California. And what I mean by that, it's been
00:28northern California where we've had most of the rain this winter. That's right, and this storm is
00:34no exception either, because all the heavy rain has been across northern California, no rain in
00:39the south. That's going to change a little bit, but the heaviest rain by far is going to continue
00:44to be northern California. And it's this pattern now, it's a little different than when we last
00:49spoke last week, because see that upper low that was in the Gulf of Alaska, that's made its way
00:53southward. Why is that important? Because, Ken, that means the next two storms, and there they are
00:58lined up, one this afternoon and then one Thursday, they're going to have a bit more in a way of colder
01:04air to work with, not as much moisture as previous storms, but that means snow levels are going to be
01:10different with these two storms. And they're already starting to drop. It's turned to snow
01:15in places like Blue Canyon, snow levels north of I-80 down to around 5,000 feet or so, and they
01:21will continue to drop with the first storm, and the second storm will drop even more. So a lot of
01:26snow coming up for this year, that's good news. Now, bad news is this, it rains where it wants to
01:32rain, Ken. You've heard that phrase, I think. In fact, you told me that probably about 30 years ago
01:38when I first got here. And look at the future rainfall. So this is with the next two storms.
01:43Let's take northern California first, about how much additional rain we're looking at with these
01:49two storms. The first one probably more so than the second one because the second one's not going
01:54to have as much moisture and probably will be shorter lived. But we're probably talking another
01:58three to five inches of rain in the favorite areas, North Bay, lower foothills of the Sierra,
02:04all those coastal mountainous areas, probably three to five inches is a good bet.
02:09Bay Area itself, probably two, three, four inches of rain. It's going to be really, really rainy
02:14there this afternoon into tonight. Lots of heavy rain, maybe even a thunderstorm. Let's talk about
02:19southern California, Ken. I don't think the rain's going to be heavy enough to cause any problems
02:25with any debris flows through the burn scar areas or any flash flooding. But in the mountains,
02:31it's a little bit of concern, but not so much in the basin. Not so much in the basin. I think the
02:36mountainous areas probably totals this week around LA, San Bernardino County Mountains,
02:43also in through the LA County Mountains, the Angeles National Forest, probably we're talking
02:48generally one to two inches of rain. That's not a lot for this time of year. That's manageable
02:53amounts of rain over a longer period of time. I'm not really concerned about any major debris flows,
02:59mudslides. There could be some minor ones, but rainfall amounts are not going to be
03:04excessive down there. Both these storms kind of peter out as they go farther south. Ken, for those
03:09that don't live in California, please explain the importance of the snow, especially in the
03:17southern Sierra for southern California. The Sierra is the lifeblood of our water, especially
03:25as you get into summer and next fall. Current reservoirs, they're chock full. No problems right
03:31now. What falls this year, this winter, is important to what happens with our water supply
03:37next year. So we're way behind across the central and southern Sierra. We're going to pick up some
03:42snow, some decent snows here over the next few days. That's good news. Maybe up to three, four,
03:48or five more feet of snow at the peaks. So whatever falls in the mountains is going to be our
03:54storing of our water for next year. AccuWeather California expert Ken Clark, as always, Ken,
04:01we appreciate your time breaking it down with us. And nobody knows southern California, no one knows
04:05California better than Ken Clark, not even me.