Cool and wet conditions return to California, West Coast

Record-breaking warmth will soon be a distant memory for residents along the West Coast as a new weather pattern will usher in showers and cooler air this week, according to AccuWeather meteorologists.

Warm and dry weather just recently settled into the West, one of the first times that the region has had an extended stretch of rain-free weather in a while.

The sunny skies allowed for soaring temperatures on Friday and Saturday, causing some locations to shatter daily high-temperature records.

At the Portland, Oregon, airport, temperatures spiked to 88 degrees Fahrenheit on Friday, shattering the old record of 82 set in 1998. The Seattle Airport also reached a new daily high record on Friday, reaching 80 degrees for the first time since Oct. 15.

On Saturday afternoon, the town of Reno, Nevada, hit 86 F, tying the daily high-temperature record for the day. In Lancaster, California, a new daily high record temperature was set as the city soared to 95 degrees.

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Closer to the Pacific coast, however, a new weather pattern is expected to bring a noticeable change in conditions this week.

"A multiday stretch of cool, and at times, wet weather is in store for California this week as a stalled out area of low pressure swirls along the coast," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham.

Early in the week, the showers and clouds will bring temperatures down across Washington and Oregon, as well as the northern two-thirds of California.

After reaching the 80s late last week, cities like Seattle and Portland, Oregon, will be dipping down into the lower 60s, slightly below the historical average this time of year.

In Redding, California, where highs were in the 90s for four days in a row, the temperature peaked at 59 degrees Monday, and the city will struggle to reach 70 degrees through Thursday.

"As the storm dives southward across the California coast, thunderstorms may accompany the showers in Central California. Storms may even produce small hail," added Buckingham.

Showery conditions, as well as thunderstorms, are in the forecast for Tuesday in California cities like San Francisco and Fresno.

Showers will expand through Central and Southern California throughout much of the week. Several days of low clouds and drizzle are forecast in cities like Los Angeles and San Diego.

"Through the month of May, average rainfall amounts across the state of California begin to drop off drastically as conditions turn drier. Although this storm will not produce precipitation amounts comparable to the storms observed over this past winter, it still could potentially produce a month's worth of rainfall in some locales," Buckingham explained.

This winter was one of the wettest seasons on record and obliterated most of the drought conditions in California and other parts of the West. The moisture-laden storms unloaded whopping amounts of snow in mountainous areas and filled reservoirs with epic amounts of rain.

With this storm, communities from Sacramento to Los Angeles could have as much as half an inch of rain, nearing the normal amount of rain that said cities receive, on average, in the entire month of May.

Snow levels are expected to fall across Central and Southern California during the middle to the latter half of the week, allowing for some slushy snow accumulations in some of the highest elevations of the Sierra Nevada.

Meanwhile, across the Intermountain West, away from the influence of the storm along the West Coast, temperatures will soar well above their historical averages.

High temperatures in Boise, Idaho, are expected to return to the middle 80s by Wednesday, while Spokane, Washington, can expect afternoon temperatures around 80, only a couple of degrees shy of the daily high-temperature records. Ahead of that, Spokane is expected to reach a new record high of 84 today, topping the record of 82 that was set in 1937. Temperatures in Salt Lake City are expected to reach at least the upper 70s through midweek, staying about 10 degrees above the historical average for early May.

"As a result of the warmth, many area rivers may rise beyond their banks as a result of snowmelt from the mountains," warned Buckingham.

A smattering of river gauges along rivers in Oregon, Idaho, Nevada and Utah were already reporting at minor flood stage on Sunday morning. With additional snowmelt this week, parts of the Portneuf River in southeastern Idaho are forecast to rise to near major flood stage by the end of the week.

For those seeking relief from the heat, AccuWeather meteorologists warn that it may be unsafe to take a dip in the water this time of year. Despite how warm the air might be, the water may still be dangerously cold, putting swimmers and adventurers at risk of cold water shock.

Cool and showery conditions are likely to continue across much of the West into the coming weekend, eventually erasing the interior warmth and bringing temperatures back to more seasonable levels.

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