BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Wind, rain, snow, and ice have all made its way to Kern County for the latest winter storm.
There’s still more to come.
While this isn’t the first storm of the season, meteorologist with the National Weather Service, Jerald Meadows said this won’t be the last.
Both Meadows and CHP fort Tejon said the best thing you can do right now is drive slowly and be prepared.
“The main thing is yea, just slow down and be patient, plan ahead, give yourself plenty of time to get to that destination, and if everybody does their part then everybody can get up over the grapevine and everybody can get to their destination safely without wrecking,” said D.C. Williams, Officer for CHP Fort Tejon.
The latest winter storm has arrived in Kern County bringing scattered showers and snow to parts of our community.
Meadows said Monday Kern County saw zero point 1-2 inches of rain and some snow but while it's moderate it may still help with our drought.
“Speaking from a drought perspective, we’ve been in a very rigid drought for a while, so getting this beneficial rain and this mountain snow, one big aspect – is as of today, the snow pact for the southern sierras is at 161 percent for the date, so that’s really going to help to make a little bit better drought conditions,” said Meadows.
Meadows added that the rain is not over. Another storm should be heading to kern county later this week.
“The next system coming in Wednesday into Thursday, looks very similar to what we’ve seen so far, fairly persistent, light to moderate rainfall when it comes across and then break out to some scattered showers,” said Meadows.
But all of this rain is normal for Bakersfield during the winter.
"Again, this is fairly consistent with our normal winters out here," said Meadows.
If you are on the road during this time Williams said to have a go-bag ready.
“The advice for that is, if you are heading towards the grapevine, make sure you have plenty of gas, plenty of water, snacks, and lots of patience,” said Williams.
Williams also added that the most important thing is to slow down because the wet roadways and high speeds can lead to hydroplaning and crashes and that’s what they’ve been seeing recently on the grapevine.
