By admin 
After some Halloweekend showers across portions of California, and some gorgeous snow falling in the Sierra on Saturday, California will return to its regularly scheduled autumn weather — highs in the 60s and low 70s.
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Or so we thought. On Tuesday, an offshore trough – a bundle of cooler low pressure air through the upper atmosphere – will slide across Northern California with quickly sparking showers and rumbles of thunder as temperatures cool further.
Before that arrives though, Monday will be much the same as Sunday — highs in the mid-to-upper 60s across the Central Valley and along the coast, but with more passing clouds. In the morning, moisture from this weekend’s showers will likely spur fog in the foothills. This will be especially true further south in the San Joaquin Valley. A dense fog advisory is in place from Merced south through Bakersfield on Monday morning until 10 a.m. In some places in the valley, visibility will be below a quarter mile.
High temperatures in the Sacramento Valley will cool further Tuesday into the upper 50s as the offshore trough moves onshore. This cooldown is temporary, and highs in the upper 60s and low 70s will return on Wednesday.
Brief rain Tuesday with rumbles of thunder
Given the speed of how fast the offshore trough arrives, it will swiftly usurp the atmosphere and release whatever moisture it has. Scattered showers will first arrive on the north coast by mid-morning Tuesday, moving soon after into Santa Rosa by late morning and to Sacramento and the Bay Area by midday.
In Sacramento, some of the initial showers have the potential be of the most intense in months, as brief thunderstorms could drop up to a quarter inch of rain in the span of a few hours. Any storms that do pop up on the stronger side won’t last more than an hour.
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More sporadic light showers will likely to continue on and off across the Sacramento Valley through the remainder of the afternoon and evening Tuesday as the center of the low pressure moves directly past Sacramento.
Further south, portions of the Delta and the San Joaquin Valley, especially near Modesto, are also likely to see some showers mid-afternoon Tuesday, although not as intense as those anticipated between Santa Rosa and Sacramento.
Rest of week dry; another window for showers next week
High temperatures will return to around 70 degrees through the rest of the week and likely into the weekend with a nice dry spell to enjoy. The atmosphere continues to hint at an extended wet stretch in mid-November for Northern California. If you are trying to squeeze in some last minute autumn weather fun, the back half of this week is an excellent time to do that uninterrupted.
This story was originally published November 2, 2026 at 7:02 AM with the headline “Will rain and thunderstorms hit Sacramento and Northern California on Election Day?.”
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