There’s nothing like weeks of foggy mornings to make you crave a change in the weather.
Bakersfield and the southern valley have dealt with a lot of dull, gray fog in recent weeks, but a taste of the changes arrived on Monday as the fog cleared out.
As the week progresses, we’re likely getting some rain and some shine just in time for Valentine’s Day, forecasters say.
And, just to keep you guessing, maybe some rain again on Presidents Day and beyond.
“As the storm approaches us, we’ll be a little bit warmer tomorrow, Tuesday, with a high temperature around 66,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Ochs.
“That’s when the chance for precipitation begins,” he said.
There’s about a 30% chance of rain in the late morning or early afternoon, but there’s a much better chance Tuesday night and heading into Wednesday, Ochs said.
“It’s not going to rain a lot in Bakersfield, maybe a 10th of an inch,” he said.
“But, probably more in the mountains and up in the Sierra as well,” he said.
The area around Frazier Park and Pine Mountain Club, for example, could see as much as a half-inch to an inch of rain during this first storm, Ochs said, with snow in the higher elevations.
Not quite as much precipitation is expected in the Kern River Valley around Kernville.
“I would think most of the precipitation’s going to be rain for those communities,” Ochs said.
On Thursday, the chance of rain in Bakersfield falls to about 20% as the storm system weakens and moves on, leaving some clouds and some sun.
Expect a high of about 58 with mostly sunny skies Friday, and warmer on Valentines Day, Saturday, with a high of 63.
On Sunday, a second, wetter storm system starts heading in, which could deliver rain on the Presidents Day holiday and beyond.
“From what we’re seeing in the longer-range data and the outlooks, it does look to have the potential for heavier precipitation, although it’s mainly going to be along the coast, and there’s potential for heavy snow up in the Sierra.”
Meanwhile, for water watchers, the precipitation is mostly welcome in the valley and especially in the Sierra Nevada snowpack.
As of Jan. 31, Bakersfield’s seasonal precipitation, counting from Oct. 1, stands at 5.71 inches, more than 2½ inches above normal for this time of year.
But according to the California Cooperative Snow Surveys, the snowpack in the southern Sierra is currently lagging behind average, standing at 72% of normal for this time of year.
The critical snowpack depends on February and March to get us back to more ideal snow levels.