Spring showers expected to end Bay Area’s sunny spell

A string of sunny weather days is expected to give way to spring showers on Friday, and they may come with a bit of added punch.

“We will have a small chance of thunder and lightning to go with it,” National Weather Service meteorologist Crystal Oudit said early Thursday.

The possibility for thunderstorms in the region will be greater on Saturday and Sunday than it is on Friday, when the opening drops of the first spring system are likely to fall, Oudit said. The weather service said there is a greater than 10% chance on each day for the thunderstorms.

“We have a low-pressure system that is moving over our area coming from the north,” Oudit said.

According to Oudit, the region is likely to receive at least an inch of rain from the system, and other areas in the mountains and coastal ranges may receive 1½ inches. The rain will be the first in the region since early March, when a string of systems dumped heavy rain in the Bay Area and snow in the Sierra Nevada.

This system also is likely to bring significant snow. The weather service issued a winter storm watch for areas above 5,000 feet in the Sierra Nevada that goes into effect at 11 a.m. Friday and lasts until 5 a.m. Sunday. Forecasters expect at least a foot of snow to fall above 5,000 feet as much as 3 feet of it at its highest peaks.

Gusty winds up to 45 mph also are expected in the mountains, and authorities said travelers should brace for chain control.

In the Bay Area, light rain is expected before noon, but the heaviest cells are not expected to dump rain until the evening hours, Oudit said. The heavy showers are expected to give way to lighter showers on Saturday and Sunday, she said, but those showers will have the added increase of having thunder and lightning.

The rain is expected to be finished by Monday, when cloudy but dry skies are expected. After that respite, forecasters said rain might fall again in the Bay Area on Wednesday.