active weather pattern

Chico experienced a thunderstorm yesterday evening that contained small hail, thunder and lightning, and heavy rain. The storm was very isolated, and skirted the east side of Chico as it moved south toward Oroville. I was driving into the storm last night as I was coming home from work. I thought I was back in Florida! I almost stopped to pull to the side of the road to wait out the heavy rain as I could not see very well. Within moments, however, the rain eased as I was driving out of the storm. Also yesterday morning, there was a Wind Advisory posted, as winds gusted up and over 30 mph. The winds eased after 9 am, and the sun even shone through the clouds for the afternoon. Expect a brief lull before more storms arrive later this week. Today and tomorrow will be sunny, but chilly, with highs only in the upper 40s to lower 50s. Wednesday night, rain returns, and will last through Sunday. It appears we'll be measuring rainfall in inches in the valley, and feet of snow in the mountains. Speaking of snow, some of the precipitation in the Redding and Shasta Lake areas (well north of Chico) may fall as snow. That's because it is expected to be very chilly tonight and tomorrow night in those areas, so Redding may see 2-4 inches of snow Wednesday night before transitioning to all rain by Thursday. No snow is expected for Chico, but some foothills locations such as Magalia may see snow initially before turning over to rain late Wednesday into early Thursday. It will also be very breezy Thursday, with southeasterly wind gusts reaching 40 mph for the valley. Calm weather returns by Christmas Eve. Here is Chico's detailed forecast from the National Weather Service: Today Mostly sunny, with a high near 51. North northwest wind 6 to 13 mph. Tonight Patchy frost after 10pm. Otherwise, mostly clear, with a low around 29. North wind around 7 mph. Wednesday A 10 percent chance of rain after 4pm. Patchy frost before 10am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 47. Calm wind. Wednesday Night Rain likely, mainly after 4am. Increasing clouds, with a low around 34. Southeast wind 8 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. Thursday Rain. High near 45. Southeast wind 14 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Thursday Night Rain. Low around 36. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Friday Rain. High near 45. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Friday Night Rain. Cloudy, with a low around 41. Saturday Rain. Cloudy, with a high near 48. Saturday Night Rain. Cloudy, with a low around 40. Sunday Showers likely. Cloudy, with a high near 47. Sunday Night A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 36. Monday Mostly sunny, with a high near 47.