LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – With rain expected on Monday, the National Weather Service has issued another flash flood watch for the areas burned this summer by the Rocky, Jerusalem and Valley fires.
The agency said the flash flood watch will be in effect from Monday morning through the evening.
The flash flood watch states that rainfall for that period of time could exceed one-quarter inch per hour with thunderstorms also a possibility, although the specific forecast for the county calls for a more modest rain amount.
The burn areas are of particular concern, according to the National Weather Service, because they typically can absorb only small amounts of rainfall, leading to large amounts of runoff when rain is heavier.
Forecasters urged anyone traveling along the roads in the burn areas to be alert for the possibility of flooding, and well as loose rocks and mudslides.
The county will start Monday having had some small amounts of rain on Sunday. The National Weather Service reported Sunday rainfall amounts including 0.19 inch in Cobb, 0.06 inch near Hidden Valley Lake, 0.04 inch near Middletown and 0.30 inch near Upper Lake.
On Monday, the forecast calls for chances of rainfall before 4 a.m., after which the chances of rain and thunderstorms will increase.
The chance of precipitation on Monday after 10 a.m. ranges as high as 70 percent around the county, with new rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch. Higher amounts are possible in the event of thunderstorms, forecasters said.
Chances of rainfall on Monday night are forecast to range up to 60 percent, with new rainfall amounts between a 10th and quarter of an inch, unless thunderstorms occur.
Starting Tuesday and continuing through the rest of the week, conditions are forecast to be sunny and mostly clear, with a slight chance of rain expected on Sunday, the National Weather Service said.
Nighttime temperatures are expected to be in the high 40s and daytime temperatures in the high 60s, based on the forecast.
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