Get ready for a soggy Valentine's week -- and frosty nights

Punxsutawney Phil was right. It looks like we’re headed for six more weeks of winter.

No matter what our early-blooming daffodils may indicate, more chilly weather (and rain) are on the way, according to the National Weather Service.

On Groundhog Day last Sunday, the world’s most famous four-legged forecaster saw his shadow when he emerged from his Pennsylvania burrow. That’s supposed to signal continued winter – not a stretch on Phil’s home turf, which is buried in snow.

Here in Sacramento, we had an unusually dry and sunny January. But February got off to a very soggy start with three successive storms in six days.

Since Friday, Jan. 31, downtown Sacramento has recorded 3.17 inches of rain, says the weather service. That’s almost as much rain as we normally get in the whole month of February.

More rain is on the way, says the weather service. NorCal’s long-range forecast predicts an 80% chance of above average rain in the next six to 10 days. “Definite rain” is forecast for Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 12 and 13, with 1 to 2 inches expected in Sacramento; more in the foothills. Valentine’s Day is likely to be stormy, too.

Before the next round of rain arrives, Sacramento nights are expected to be especially chilly, with wide areas of frost forecast in the wee hours of Sunday, Monday and Tuesday morning. Overnight lows will be right around freezing at 32 degrees. Patchy frost can hit early Saturday morning, too, says the weather service. Also, watch out for fog.

In this space between storms, protect tender plants from frost – and rot. Succulents may have become waterlogged from all this recent rain; make sure they’re not standing in water. (They could end up standing in ice.)