Rain & snow return to California, just in time to complicate your Thanksgiving travels

MENDOCINO Co., 11/24/19 — A major winter storm, the first of the season, is forecasted to drench California this week, just in time to make Thanksgiving travels all the more difficult, especially if you have to cross the mountain pass on the way to Thanksgiving dinner. The storm is expected to arrive Tuesday afternoon or evening, and will bring significant rain to lower elevations (potentially putting an end of fire seasons) while dumping up to a couple feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada, and even a few inches of snow in the hills around Willits, Covelo, and Laytonville.

In contrast to much of the country where it rains year-round, in California the “water year” begins on October 1, meaning that annual rain fall totals are tabulated from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30 of the next year, so that they encompass the whole rainy season.