Wet morning commute after Bay Area showers; more rain likely Wednesday

A storm brought rain to San Francisco and snow to the Sierra on Sunday night, providing some relief from a winter that so far has been drier than normal.

A cold front moving south to the Bay Area from Seattle reached San Francisco by midevening, bringing showers as temperatures stayed in the mid-50s, said Drew Peterson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Monterey.

A winter storm is expected to bring rain to San Francisco by Sunday night, meteorologists said. A winter storm is expected to bring rain to San Francisco by Sunday night, meteorologists said. Photo: National Weather Service / National Weather Service Photo: National Weather Service / National Weather Service Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Wet morning commute after Bay Area showers; more rain likely Wednesday 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

In the Sierra, elevations above 6,000 feet could receive up to 4 inches of snow, according to Mark Faucette, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Reno.

San Francisco and Oakland were expected to receive between a quarter inch and a half inch of rain by Monday morning.

San Francisco has recorded 7.68 inches of rain this season, while the average amount is 11.75 inches, Peterson said.

The current rain total is 65 percent of normal precipitation totals for the time of year. Throughout the region, areas range from 55 to 70 percent of normal, Peterson said. “It’s been a drier than normal year so far,” he said.

The storm should bring slightly more rain to the North Bay, where regions such as Santa Rosa could receive as much as 1.25 inches of rain, Peterson said. The South Bay could record up to two-tenths of an inch.

“The worst of it’s going to be overnight,” Peterson said. “However, it will probably still be a wet commute” Monday.

Residents should expect more rain Wednesday as another, probably wetter storm approaches the region, he said. That system could bring 10 to 18 inches of snow for elevations above 7,000 feet in the Sierra, Faucette said, with 6 to 9 inches of snow expected near lake level in Tahoe.

Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno