Winter Weather Too Little, Too Late For Northern California

DONNER SUMMIT (CBS13) – The calendar reads May, but it looked like January up in the Sierra Thursday.

Snow-flocked trees signaled the arrival of winter-like conditions. A Winter Weather Advisory was even issued.

Not to mention, the wet weather looks to be helping rivers. As we saw, the south fork of the Yuba River had water rushing toward the valley.

Arriving at Donner Summit early Thursday morning, the snow was really falling and it didn't let up.

The snow kept coming down – a welcome sight for the Sierra, even for people driving through.

Up to eight inches of snow was expected to fall by the time the storm ended.

"We drove over at the end of March and didn't hit anything.  So coming up in May it's kind of surprising actually to hit the snow again," said driver Teresa Moore.

The valley also saw some action. Flashes of lightning from thunderstorms illuminated the sky just before dawn. Lightning even struck in some areas – like in Nevada City, where an oak tree and some service lines were scorched.

Totals released by the National Weather Service shows precipitation varied quite a bit depending on the area. Some parts of the Sierra saw between .5 and 1 inch of rain and snow, while areas near South Lake Tahoe only saw between .25 and .5 inches.

Much of the Sacramento Valley saw some sort of measurable rainfall. But it was the upper part of the San Joaquin Valley that saw a good pouring of rain.