Light showers to sweep through North Bay this weekend ahead of above-average high temps

A series of rain showers will begin Friday morning, bringing light rain and warmer temperatures to the North Bay, according to the National Weather Service.

The two storms, spread out from Friday morning through Sunday afternoon, will drop up to 1¾ inches of rain to the wettest portions of Sonoma County, said Alexis Clouser, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Monterey.

The Sonoma County valleys, including Santa Rosa and Petaluma, will receive about 0.8 inches of rain while the coastal mountains will see about 1½ to 1¾ inches.

Though some regions still are drying out from the early January atmospheric rivers that through the Bay Area, the weather service predicts the upcoming “tame” storms won’t trigger many weather-related hazards due to the low rain totals, Clouser said.

“We are really not concerned with any flooding risk,” she said.

The first light shower and accompanying 15 to 25 mph wind gusts will begin between 4 and 5 a.m. Friday. The light, consistent rain will slow by the afternoon, after which scattered showers will pop up until Saturday morning followed by a Sunday morning storm expected to drop ¼- to ½-inch of rain.

However, the incoming clouds and resulting moisture will act as insulators and help the area warm up, Clouser said.

The lows for Friday and Saturday mornings will be in the mid- to high-40s, with Santa Rosa at 44 degrees and Bodega Bay at 47 degrees. Sunday morning will drop to the mid- to low-40s.

The highs for Friday and Saturday will be around the mid- to upper-50s while Sunday’s high will reach the low- to mid-50s. These temperatures are slightly higher than normal for the time of year, Clouser said.

There have been no freeze watches, advisories or warnings issued by the weather service or the county. The rain and lows are not predicted to meet the city of Santa Rosa’s threshold for opening warming centers, which requires the weather service to forecast three consecutive days with overnight lows below 32 degrees or three consecutive nights of rain with major or extreme risk levels.

You can reach Staff Writer Madison Smalstig at madison.smalstig@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @madi.smals.