A vast Pacific storm was drenching the whole U.S. West Coast this weekend, bringing heavy snow to the mountains, weather scientists said. Much of California was set to get 2 to 4 inches of rain Saturday and Sunday, AccuWeather.com reported. Snow was set to blanket the Sierra Nevada, Cascades and northern and central Rockies, with elevations above 7,000 feet getting 1 to 2 feet by Saturday night and more Sunday, UPI quoted forecasters as saying. In parts of the Intermountain West, milder temperatures were expected to create a slushy mix. In the San Francisco Bay Area, off-and-on rain was forecast, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. "This storm isn't dropping down from the Gulf of Alaska, it's sweeping across the Central Pacific and even tapping into the subtropical moisture, which is what is bringing some of the precipitation," Bob Benjamin of the National Weather Service said. The wet weather is good news for skiers and California water officials, who said farms and cities probably will get about half the water they request next year. Just last month, they were expected to get only a quarter. The Weather Channel predicted thunder along the California and Pacific Northwest coasts.
