A strong Pacific jet stream is forecast to pull moisture from deep in the subtropics and finally break through the strong high pressure ridge that has kept Lake County and most of Northern and Central California dry for over a month.

The system is forecast to be in our area beginning on Wednesday and the wet weather will continue throughout the weekend.

NWS is forecasting several inches of rain – as well as significant snowfall above 4,500 feet – from Thursday through the weekend, which should be good news for the Department of Water Resources (DWR).

"We're obviously running low right now, but you never know what Mother Nature will do," DWR Snow Survey Section Chief Frank Gehrke said this past Friday when the second snow survey of the season was completed.

Hydrologists at the DWR use the surveys to predict the amount of water for the state's water supply in the coming year.

"In 1963 we had no snow at all on this date," reported Gehrke, "yet we registered 20 inches between February and April."

Although the NWS is not predicting the amount of water or snow, they are saying that the "upcoming wet weather could make a significant recovery in the precipitation deficit over Northern California."

In a special weather statement released on Monday NWS said the coming storms could "turn this month into a fabulous February."

Get out your rain gear and perhaps find those unused sandbags from last year ... we're in for a wet weekend.

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