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Gusty winds in forecast cancels annual Manteca holiday parade
xmas parade
A previous Christmas parade entry,

The Grinch isn’t stealing Christmas but Mother Nature is forcing the cancellation of Manteca’s 50th annual twilight holiday parade.
Forecasts of heavy rain, thunderstorms and gusty winds up to 40 mph have been issued for Saturday by the National Weather Service.

It is the first time the downtown parade sponsored by the Manteca Chamber of Commerce has ever been cancelled.

“We’ve had rain on parades before but the deciding factor for the board was the concern with the wind gusts,” noted Manteca Chamber Executive Director Joann Beattie.

The board did not want to risk wind gusts blowing items off floats and possibly striking spectators.

Typically, 6,000 to 7,000 people brave the December evening chill to jam the five-block long parade route down Yosemite Avenue.

The chamber opted not to reschedule the parade to next Saturday as the forecast also called for rain and potentially high winds as well.

There are two storms hitting Northern California over four days

The first that was expected to reach the mountains late last night and this morning and drop snow above 3,500 feet. The accumulation at Sonora Pass on Highway 120 and Tioga Pass on Highway 120 is expected to be between two and three feet.

The second storm is expected to arrive tonight and linger through Monday morning.

It is expected be stronger than last weekend’s storm.

The Manteca-Ripon-Lathrop area is predicted to receive 1 to 2 inches of rain.

The greatest impacts will hit the region early Saturday and then Saturday night.

Snow levels will rise to 4,000 to 5,000 feet before falling to 2,500 to 3,500 feet on Sunday.

The second storm is expected to add 3 to 4 feet of snow to both Sonora and Tioga passes.

 

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com