More rain expected for Merced County. Here's what weather forecasters predict
The latest rain is expected to come this weekend
By CVJC Staff
Merced County residents can expect the coming weekend to bring more rain – although it’s likely to be a far cry from the atmospheric rivers that began soaking the Valley around this time last year.
The rainstorm that moved into the area Tuesday evening brought roughly half an inch of rain to the Merced area, according to Carlos Molina, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Hanford.
The storm brought about a quarter of an inch to the county’s Los Banos and westside area.
Another storm system is expected to move into the Merced region from the Gulf of Alaska on Saturday, possibly early Sunday morning, bringing about the same amount of rain, Molina said.
The Merced area has seen about 2.59 inches of rain since Dec.1, which is about a half inch below its average, which is 3.71 inches for the same period of time.
According to National Weather Service data charts, the Merced area finished 2023 with a total rain count of 17.75 inches, still well below the record of 24.18 inches in 1983.
Molina said 12 inches of rain total is considered a normal annual amount for the Merced area.
The latest rain has not had a major impact on the area’s creeks and waterways. As of Wednesday, Bear Creek in Merced had a depth of about 4.4 feet.
At the height of last year’s January’s storms, the creek reached a depth of 26 feet, causing massive flooding in Merced. During the same storm last year, Miles Creek in Planada also overflowed, causing flooding in that community.
The most recent storm has meant snow in the high country of the Sierra Nevada, although Molina said so far it’s not considered deep snowpack.
Molina said when it’s not raining, however, drivers do need to be weary of another potential hazard: the Tule fog.
Fog is expected to hit the area during the early morning Thursday and Friday.
I’m wondering if those creeks were cleaned up after such neglect. It wasn’t just the water that caused the flooding