Monday Winds:
There is a fairly strong storm moving into the Pacific Northwest and B.C. We could see a few clouds on the southern edge over the northern Sierra, along with some sun. Even though we stay dry on Monday, we will see gusty winds from the west gusting up to 60-80+ mph over the ridges. That could affect some upper mountain lift operations.
Tuesday – Saturday:
High pressure builds up the West Coast for the rest of the week into Satuday. That will bring us sunny days with highs in the 50s, and 40s for the higher elevations.
1st Week of March:
The pattern starts to change as we go through the 1st week of March, with the ridge initially shifting up towards Alaska and storms having a better chance to track underneath into the West Coast. The first system that looks like it could reach the Sierra is on Sunday into next Monday the 3rd.
Right now this system looks pretty weak, but it could bring needed precipitation after a dry week. The snow levels could start above 7000 ft. on Sunday and then could fall into Monday. We’ll continue to watch this system all week with more details on potential snowfall as we get closer.
We may or may not see another weak system during the 1st week of March, but the door will be slightly open if a stronger storm tries to spin up and push inland.
2nd Week of March:
During the second week of March, the long-range models continue to show the mean ridge position in the eastern Pacific shifting out to south of the Aleutian Islands, with a broad trough over the West Coast.
That is typically a pattern that we love during the winter as it usually opens the door to wetter and sometimes colder storms. The operational models do show a wetter storm or two, and the ensemble mean models are starting to show above-average precipitation possible during the 2nd week of the month.
The long-range models have been pretty consistent with how the patterns will be set up to open the door to storms. Let’s hope this continues!
BA
