Dreary Week in Store for the Northwest

By Bill Deger, Meteorologist

Mar 27, 2012; 5:57 AM ET

A series of storm systems will make for a dreary week in the Pacific Northwest, beginning today as a drenching rain spreads ashore south to California.
In the mountains farther inland, including the Cascades and part of the Sierra Nevada range, snow will pile up over the next few days.
By the time the weekend rolls around, some locations near the coast will have picked up several inches of rain, with feet of snow expected in higher elevations.
From today's storm alone, an inch or two of rain will fall in rain gauges across northwestern California, including in Crescent City and Eureka. Gusty winds as high as 50 mph will accompany the rain in these areas.
A lighter, more intermittent rain will dampen the I-5 corridor north to Portland and Seattle, with rainfall amounts generally less than a half an inch through early on Wednesday.
The Bay Area of California will experience a soaking rain by tonight, with about an inch expected.
While the Cascades of Washington and Oregon will be able to measure a few fresh inches of snow from the first storm, heavier amounts will greet California skiers and snowboarders by Wednesday.

Additional heavy snow amounts can be expected beginning tonight and continuing into Wednesday over the Sierra Nevada range.
According to AccuWeather.com Western Expert Ken Clark, much of the Sierra Nevada range is in for a good snow early on Wednesday. Mountains farther south which were clobbered over the weekend look to stay dry.
"Southern California seems likely to miss out on much of the action," says Clark.
All of California will likely miss the brunt of additional storms for the remainder of the week, with the action staying north in the Pacific Northwest. However, a later storm could bring another heavy rain and snow event to the Golden State over the weekend.

Dreary Week in Store for the Northwest