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Hydrometeorological Discussion
National Weather Service / California Nevada RFC / Sacramento CA
830 AM PST Fri Feb 6 2026

...MULTIPLE WEAK SYSTEMS WILL MOVE ONSHORE OVER THE COMING HOURS 
TO DAYS BRINGING LIGHT PRECIPITATION TO THE FORECAST AREA...

.METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS (FRI AM - THU AM)...

A weak upper low off the Baja Peninsula has begun phasing with a 
shortwave that is crashing southeastward over Nevada, spreading 
light and scattered showers over the southern High Sierra, Owens 
Valley, and southern Nevada. The upper low will continue to track 
over the Baja Peninsula, spreading weak shower activity northward 
along the Sierra to the Tahoe Basin. Precipitation accumulations 
will remain quite light, resulting in mostly trace accumulations at 
the highest elevations and up to a few tenths of an inch over the 
southern High Sierra. 

Over the weekend, the persistent and positively tilted ridge will 
flatten out enough to allow a weak system to spread enhanced onshore 
moisture transport (IVT ~500 units) across far northern California 
and southern Cascades on Sunday. Atmospheric river conditions will 
primarily remain over northern CA, dissipating somewhere around the 
I-80 corridor. The heaviest precipitation accumulations of >1 inch 
are currently targeting the Smith Basin, extending as far south as 
northern Humboldt County. 

There is the potential for another weak system to move onshore over 
the central CA coast early on Tuesday, though uncertainty remains 
high across all guidance pertaining to accumulations and timing. 
This morning's NBM run ramped accumulations up a bit compared to 
previous runs. Current QPF keeps the heaviest accumulations of ~1 
inch over a majority of the Sierra, but accumulations are likely to 
be adjusted as guidance updates. 

Freezing levels will lower from ~9k feet to ~5k with the system 
moving onshore over the Smith Basin. Levels over the southern Sierra 
are forecast to lower to ~5.5-6k feet as the system moves on shore 
early next week. 

Please Note: This product may NOT be routinely updated.
Please refer to the following product issued by the CNRFC
www.cnrfc.noaa.gov/Daily-Briefing for a graphical summary of
weather and hydrologic conditions.