Early-spring storm brings rain, wind to Valley

An early-spring storm that hit the central San Joaquin Valley on Saturday brought rain and wind to the Fresno area and snow to the mountains.

Fresno had .29 inches of rainfall as of 5 p.m. Saturday, cutting the seasonal rainfall deficit to 3.87 inches for the year, said meteorologist Jeff Barlow with the National Weather Service in Hanford.

The city also saw wind gusts as high as 28 mph, with an average wind speed between 10 and 15 mph throughout the day.

The stormy weather didn’t cause many problems; the Fresno Police Department only reported a few stoplights out in downtown Fresno on Saturday afternoon. Clovis police also reported no major weather-related problems. Capt. Justin Moore of the Fresno Fire Department said there was an increase in weather-related calls, but nothing serious.

Snow fell as low as 3,900 feet in the Sierra and even hit the valley floor in Yosemite, Barlow said. He also said snow flurries fell on the Grapevine on Interstate 5 during the evening, and more snow was possible later Saturday night.

The storm was pushed in from the central Pacific area by a jet stream and traveled north from Fresno toward the coast of Oregon, Barlow said. The rain stopped by 7 p.m. Saturday.

Temperatures will rise over the next two days. Barlow said the forecast for Fresno today is a high of 63 degrees and a low of 42 degrees, and Monday a high of 68 and a low of 43.

Fresno has a slight chance of seeing rain again as soon as Wednesday, Barlow said.

By Samuel Cosby