Rain On the Way, Weather People Say

As so many Patchers have pointedly reminded us these past few days it has been a dry winter thus far, and Ma Nature better bless us with some moisture pretty soon or things could get ugly in California.

Forecasters are promising the arrival of a "mild" storm front expected to dampen Northern California next week -- and end a disconcerting dry spell that has left Lamorinda parched and the Sierra Nevada devoid of snow.

The National Weather Service said rain could come to the North Bay on Wednesday, with the rest of the Bay Area seeing some precipitation later in the week. Wet weather won't come soon enough for many residents, though, many of whom remember that our last significant storm system arrived around Thanksgiving.

Skiers who booked time at Sierra hotels in anticipation of a normal Christmas ski season have been spending their time mountain biking or shopping in Lake Tahoe instead. Surveyors from the California Cooperative Snow Survey, whose mountain snowfall readings allow researchers to project water availability for the coming year, hit dirt instead of powder when they ventured out to take their snow samples last week.

Still, most of our reservoirs are nearly full with the bounty of last year's unusually plentiful rainfall, weather watchers say, and although it appears we'll be unable to make up the Christmas snow deficit, there's little chance of the full-blown drought condition many Californians remember and have suggested may be on the way again.