Rain and snow to impact holiday travel in parts of California and the Sierra

Mike Nicco Image
ByMike Nicco KGO logo
Saturday, December 21, 2019
Wet weather to impact holiday travel through parts of CA
If you are planning to hit the road or fly home for the holidays, ABC7 News Meteorologist Mike Nicco has your Christmas weekend travel forecast.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- If you are planning to hit the road or fly home for the holidays, ABC7 News Meteorologist Mike Nicco has your Christmas weekend travel forecast.

"Expect scattered showers in Northern California including Crescent City and Eureka," said Nicco. "There could be snowflakes, north of Chico, otherwise most of the state is very dry."

Everything changes Saturday when the weather moves in. The strongest storm will be Sunday.

Nicco's AccuWeather forecast shows the Bay Area will get soaked with two consecutive days of rain.

RELATED: Christmas Forecast: Atmospheric River to drench Bay Area this weekend, more rain developing Dec. 25

On Saturday, the Bay Area will be hit with a 1 on the Storm Impact Scale, followed by a 2 on the Storm Impact Scale on Sunday.

The rain will make it as far south as Bakersfield and Santa Barbara on Sunday, according to Nicco.

"If you are traveling to the high country, Sunday is the day you need to worry about. If you leave before sunrise, you'll be ok, but once the sun comes up it could be dangerous to travel," said Nicco.

A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect Sunday from 7 a.m. To 10 p.m., above 4,000 feet.

"We could have up to a foot of snow, so definitely some dangerous travel there," said Nicco.

If you are leaving California for the holidays expect wet weather Friday in places like Seattle, Portland, Houston, Dallas and New Orleans.

RELATED: Track the rain on Live Doppler 7

"There could be some delays at the airport, so check before you go," said Nicco. "Otherwise, we got really lucky Friday and Saturday in the Bay Area and across the country."