CHICO — A mild storm system worked its way Thursday evening into Northern California and is expected to bring some rainfall and light breezes.
Kate Forrest, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Sacramento office said the system has a chance of thunderstorms as well.
“We’ve got a weak system moving into the area that will bring some isolated showers and thunderstorms, mostly in the foothills,” Forrest said. “It will mostly cover the eastern half of the valley on Friday.”
Chico, the surrounding valley and Paradise are all looking at between a quarter of an inch to an inch of rain on Friday. Farther north in Red Bluff, the weather service is expecting between a tenth and a quarter of an inch. Willows is on the lower end with a forecast of a tenth of an inch.
Wind likely won’t play as big of a part in this storm with higher gusts reaching only 20 miles per hour, though Forrest said the delta and the mountains could see up to 30 miles per hour.
At its lowest, the snow level is expected to be at around 6,000 feet, but will likely stay between 6,500 and 7,000 feet.
The storm is expected to settle down Friday evening, just in time for Gold Nugget Days in Paradise.
“We’re going to enter a period of dry, quiet weather over the weekend,” Forrest said. “There could be some lingering showers but it’s going to be on the low end. Just a few sprinkles here and there.”
Forrest said Saturday is expected to be light and breezy.
Lake Oroville continues to glide above previous years sitting at 888.36 feet as of Thursday. On the same day in 2023, the water level reached 876.74 and in 2022 was only at 769.1. Last year the lake hit capacity on June 21.
Shasta Lake was recorded at 1,060.89 feet at noon on Thursday. The lake was at nearly the same level for this date last year, a significant jump from 2022 when the lake level was at merely 944.63.
