Hot today, but rain on the way next week
A meteorologist with the National Weather Service says Solano County could get a nice drenching next week.
(Stock photo)
The weather was downright miserable on Thursday, with temperatures across the area crossing the 100-degree mark throughout much of Solano County.
But weather forecasters say the atmosphere is expected to perform a complete turnaround over the next couple of day — and there’s a very high likelihood of rain showers creeping into the area late next week.
In an interview with Solano News Update late Wednesday night, National Weather Service meteorologist Robert Baruffaldi said the weather is expected to remain hot for at least another day (Friday) before cooling off to around seasonal averages between Sunday and Monday.
Bsaed on current forecast models, the meteorologist says portions of Northern California could see some rain showers move into the area by late next week.
Baruffaldi says remnants from Hurricane Marie, which is currently spinning well off the coast of southern Baja California, are expected to push further north and combine with a low pressure system by the middle of next week.
That combined system will then move through the west coast, bringing moisture and a decent chance of rain showers throughout Northern California, including Solano County, by Thursday or Friday.
“If that works out, that would be nice,” Barrufaldi said. “We’d get some decent rain falling over the wildfires [in nearby Napa and Sonoma counties], too.”
Barrufaldi's comments track a forecast published by the National Weather Service on Wednesday, which said there's a 30 to 50 percent chance of precipitation between October 8 and October 14 based on current models and anticipated weather activity.
Scientists say weather forecasts prove correct about 80 to 90 percent of the time when they are made up to seven days out — as is the case with the precipitation forecast issued by the National Weather Service — and correct around half the time when they’re made between 7 and 14 days out.
In addition to providing much-needed water for plants, rain carries another added benefit: Precipitation helps clear out air particulates and other forms of pollution brought on by wildfires from the atmosphere. In other words, rain helps get rid of smoky and hazy skies. Though it’s clearing pollution out of the air, rainfall during wildfire season isn’t toxic to humans or animals.
“Large-scale weather systems…tend to dilute wildfire smoke where it becomes non-toxic to human health,” a spokesperson for the California Air Resources Board told the fact-checking website Snopes following the Camp Fire in 2018.
Moisture systems, especially ones that bring large rain storms, do have the potential to trigger mudslides and runoffs in areas with significant wildfire burn scars. When asked if next week’s precipitation could trigger flooding in rural parts of Solano County that were devastated by August’s LNU Lightning Complex wildfire, Barrufaldi said no.
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