The San Francisco Bay Area is in for some cold after enjoying unseasonably warm weekend weather.
A cold front’s passage over the Bay Area could bring slight chances of rain Monday, but no more than 0.1 inches locally. After the front passes, temperatures are expected to drop Tuesday morning, with lows in the upper 30s to low 40s, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Dylan Flynn.
“It’s going to be much colder than it has been, about 10 degrees colder, in the morning,” Flynn said.
With afternoon highs expected to be in the upper 50s to low 60s, temperatures won’t be significantly off from the norm—though mornings will be frosty.
The weather service has issued a frost advisory for North Bay valleys and mountains for Tuesday morning.
A return to heavier rain is likely late Thursday through Sunday, with a total accumulation of around 1 to 2 inches expected. The storm system is also packing strong winds, prompting high surf advisories.
“Unlike the rain we’ve had previously this month, which is all kind of southerly winds, atmospheric-river type rain, this is a cold front coming from Alaska, so it’s going to be colder air,” Flynn said.
“It’s not quite as much rain as we’ve seen with some of the other storms, but it’s going to be rainy, cold, cold and windy all at the same time.”
Flynn said waves could reach 15 to 18 feet along the San Francisco coast this weekend. In higher elevations, the rain may turn to snow.
“We do expect to see some snow accumulation on some of the higher mountains and bridges” with snow dropping to as low as 2,500 feet, Flynn said.
The forecast’s rain totals will help close out a rain season that’s right on target locally and regionally. According to preliminary totals, San Francisco is at 115% observed rainfall for the water year starting Oct. 1, 2023, while the weather service’s downtown San Francisco station is at 196% of normal for the month of February.