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© Paul Kitagaki Jr.
Snow is coming to the Sacramento Valley -- but only a light dusting is expected on the streets of Sacramento. The National Weather Service said today that 2-4 inches of snow is expected to fall at the 1,000-foot elevation, below Auburn and El Dorado Hills.

Cindy Matthews, forecaster, said a dusting of snow is likely to start in the pre-commute hours in Sacramento and should continue off and on throughout the day.

The cold storm system dropping from the northeast out of Canada will be unusual since the coldest temperatures will bypass Northern California communities such as Red Bluff and Redding but drop Sacramento Valley temperatures Monday to a record 27 degrees.

That's the coldest for Dec. 7 since the National Weather Service began tracking temperatures in Sacramento in1849. The city of Sacramento last had 2 inches of snow in February 1976.

Matthews said a trace amount of snow has fallen in the area four times since then - most recently on Jan. 28, 2002.

Today's high is forecast to reach 42. The low this morning was 28 degrees.