This is for all of you bicycle commuters who neglect to check the weather forecast (and you know who you are) — three storms systems are barreling down from Alaska with two to four inches of rain forecast in Santa Clara valley and up the Peninsula into San Francisco beginning Thursday at noon. On Friday, 20 to 30 mph winds gusting to 50 mph are expected throughout the Bay Area and coastal areas. Up to ten inches on rain is expected in the Santa Cruz Mountains (where I live) over the weekend, with snow falling as low as 2,500 feet.

As the storms move east over the Sierra Mountains, the snow is expected to fall in crippling volumes. “They could see up to eight to 10 feet [of snow] by Sunday,” Weather Service Meteorologist Steve Anderson. “It’s going to be a major winter storm with white-out, blizzard conditions, winds up to 100 miles per hour on the peaks and around 50 miles per hour down on Interstate 80,” he says.

Although big swells are expected through the storms in Santa Cruz, surf conditions will be too choppy for it to be any fun.

Before you break out the bikes for your commute to work on Thursday morning, break out your rain gear.

Photo: “Cycling through the rain” by Annemiek van der Kuil. With expected high winds, an umbrella is not recommended this week.