A man carries an umbrella as he waits to cross the street in front of a Cable Car in San Francisco, Thursday, March 3, 2016. Light rain has started in the San Francisco Bay Area as the region braces for a series of storms expected this weekend and into next week.(Photo: Jeff Chiu, AP)
After a rather dry February, a series of potent El<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Niño-fueled storms will<span style="color: Red;">*</span>deliver driving rain and feet of snow to drought-plagued California starting<span style="color: Red;">*</span>this weekend.
As is often the case in the boom-or-bust world of California precipitation, the rain may fall too hard and too fast at times, potentially leading to flash floods and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>mudslides as well as<span style="color: Red;">*</span>beach erosion from pounding surf and high winds.
El Niño is a periodic natural warming of ocean water in the tropical Pacific that impacts weather in the U.S. and around the world. It typically brings increased precipitation to the western U.S., with its effects peaking between<span style="color: Red;">*</span>January and March.
The National Weather Service issued flash flood watches for much of northern and central California<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and winter storm watches and warnings in the Sierra.
Some of the highest elevations of the Sierra could pick up 3-4 feet of snow over the next three days, the weather service forecast. Even more is likely next week.
Several inches of rain could soak areas<span style="color: Red;">*</span>from San Diego and Los Angeles to San Francisco and Sacramento through next week, AccuWeather predicts. As much as a foot of rain could fall across portions of northern California.
The first round of rain will<span style="color: Red;">*</span>begin to move onshore over parts of the Pacific Northwest and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>northern and central California by Friday evening, the weather service said. More rounds of rain will follow Sunday and into next week.
Enough rain may fall in the coming days to put a noticeable dent in the drought across the state, according to AccuWeather. As of Thursday's U.S. Drought Monitor, about 95% of California remains<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in a drought, the highest percentage of any U.S. state.
March may be the final<span style="color: Red;">*</span>opportunity for significant rain and snow in California because<span style="color: Red;">*</span>April typically marks the start of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the state's dry season, AccuWeather said.
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