Rain tapers off in San Mateo County as weather patterns shift

The next few days are likely to be dry, Flynn said, with a weak cold front moving through the area on Wednesday that could create weak showers and warmer temperatures predicted up until Saturday.

From Sunday into next Monday, there is a 25% to 50% chance of rain, Flynn said, and showers should be petering out by the end of the month.

“April is kind of the last month where we get a decent amount of rain,” he said. “If we were to keep getting rain all April, we’ll end up above normal, which is interesting after we had such a dry March.”

The La Niña weather pattern is ending and moving into an El Niño, Flynn said. That’s typically associated with wetter weather in Southern California and drier weather in the Pacific Northwest, however, he cautioned against making major, long-term predictions for what San Mateo County’s upcoming rainfall could look like based on the upcoming El Niño.

“We are leaving a La Niña, which we had all throughout winter, and are pretty certain it’s going to transition into an El Niño,” he said. “What does that mean for our area? We read into it a bit too much sometimes.”

The Bay Area has seen both droughts and extremely wet winters during El Niño seasons, Flynn said.

“It can go either way — it tends to favor slightly a wetter winter,” he said.