The weather in Fresno over the next few days will be a little like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem: “Into every life some rain must fall.”

We’re in the grip of a winter storm that will bring major amounts of rain and snow to Northern California and Southern Oregon, but only an inch of rain to Fresno and a few inches of snow to the central Sierra, National Weather Service meteorologist David Spector said Thursday morning.

Overnight lows early next week will fall into the upper 30s in Fresno and the mid-30s in rural parts of the valley, so residents there may see some frosty windshields, he said.

Once these waves of wet weather continue, we’ll be dealing with a high pressure system that will mean slightly higher than normal temperatures and dry weather through the end of next week, Spector said.

“Yes, we are in a La Niña,” he said.

Warm up on the go

Temperatures will be warmer than normal in the mountains and desert, but valley elevations could be limited as tule fog accumulates after the rainstorms, Spector said.

The eight-day outlook for Fresno is today’s high of 57, overnight low of 49; Friday, 59, low of 47; Saturday, 61, low of 47; Sunday, 60, low of 44; Monday, 54, low of 39; Tuesday, 53, low of 38; New Year’s Day, 55, low of 40; and January 2, a high of 58.