Rainy weekend ahead

A wet weekend, followed by fog, is what is expected for the Orange Belt. However, by Thursday, there should be plenty of sunshine and no weather travel concerns, said Paul Iniquez, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Hanford.

“Heavy showers are expected [Friday] evening and most of tomorrow,” Iniquez said on Friday afternoon. “But the showers should taper off on Sunday and end by Monday.”

The NWS is forecasting a 70 percent chance of rain today, up from 50 percent on Friday.

Temperatures through the weekend will remain seasonal, Iniquez said, with highs in the mid-60s and lows in the 40s.

“The San Joaquin Valley should be drying out for most of the week, with mostly sunshine as Thursday approaches,” he said. “There should be no weather travel concerns.”

Following the rain, fog can be expected, but the density of the fog will depend on the amount of rainfall.

“It’s always hard to tell how dense the fog will be,” Iniquez said. “It all depends on the rain after the fact.”

A winter weather advisory is also in effect in Tulare County mountains above the 7,500 elevation through Saturday. On Friday, there was snow at 7,000 ft. elevation and expected at the 6,000 ft. elevation by Sunday.

In Porterville, rainfall has been minimal.

As of 8 a.m. Friday, the 24-hour rainfall measured .04 inches, said Greg Chadwell, a local weather observer.

“The rain gods have been stingy,” Chadwell said. “So far this month, we’ve only had .12 inch of rain and only .14 for the season. That’s lower than last year.”

Tulare County Agricultural Commissioner Marilyn Kinoshita called the expected rainfall “excellent” and said farmers in general are craving rain.

The timing is perfect too, since table grapes are finished and any that are lingering are covered in plastic.

“The cotton crop is a concern but we’re on the tail end of it,” Kinoshita said. “There is some acreage of second-pick cotton but the weather has been so good and there was enough notice that they could have finished.”

Splashing water and soil results in degradation of the quality of the cotton.

“But growers at this time of year are looking at the seed production more than cotton fiber,” she said. “So, they don’t care if the cotton is a little gray.”

Contact Esther Avila at 784-5000, Ext. 1045. Follow her on Twitter @Avila_recorder.