Rain Coming This Week, But the Drought Isn't Over

By Bay City News Service

Much-needed rain will be arriving in the Bay Area this week, but a forecaster said Monday that it won't be enough to quell the region's drought worries.

"It doesn't look like it's going to be a lot of rain," National Weather Service meteorologist Christine Riley said.

There will be about a quarter- to one-third of an inch of rainfall between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning, she said. The North Bay and higher-elevation areas may see up to a half-inch of precipitation.

In the Monterey Bay area, only about a tenth of an inch of rain is expected. She said lingering showers may keep minimal amounts of the wet stuff in the area into Friday.

"It's not going to make any difference at all," she said, referring to the statewide drought declared by Gov. Jerry Brown earlier this month. "It's just enough to water some lawns."

Riley warned that built-up oil on roadways could make for slick and dangerous driving conditions once the rainy weather arrives.

Otherwise, she said, "it's just a really, really weak winter storm" with no strong winds in the forecast. 

The storm is heading in from the Aleutian Islands and moving southeast toward the California coast.

This weekend is expected to be dry again with no sight of rain into next week, she said.

She said that later today, the storm system "is going to brush Northern California" and may drop "a couple little sprinkles" on the North Bay this afternoon, but that is unlikely.

The Bay Area has been warmer than usual this month, but temperatures are expected to drop to normal late-January temperatures between the low 50s and mid-60s, she said.

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