Thursday – Saturday:
The dry pattern continues through Saturday with mostly sunny skies and breezy winds. Highs into the 30s on the mountain to near 40 degrees at the base. Northeast winds come down some Thursday and then turn northwest Friday and to the west Saturday, with ridgetop gusts up to 30-40+ mph by afternoon.
Sunday Cold & Snow:
The pattern shifts on Sunday with a cold trough digging into CA from the north. The snow is expected to move in with the front during the early morning hours Sunday. Then scattered snow showers are expected to continue into Sunday night. Much colder air pours south into the region with highs dropping into the 20s and the winds dropping off.
Here is a look at the updated snowfall forecast for this storm for totals expected by Monday morning:
- 2-5 inches at the base.
- 3-6 inches at mid-mountain elevations.
- 4-7 inches up top.
We’ll continue to watch the trends and adjust accordingly as we get closer to Sunday.
Monday – Tuesday:
It stays cold Monday into Tuesday with highs only in the teens on the mountains Monday and 20s for Tuesday. Overnight lows are in the single digits. We should clear on Monday with some sun, and then mostly sunny on Tuesday.
Long-Range:
The cold trough that digs into the region Sunday is forecast to shift to our east by Wednesday while a second trough develops off the West Coast through the 2nd. That could pump a ridge over the West Coast for the 1st-2nd with the dry pattern continuing and a warming of high temperatures.
By February 3rd, the trough is forecast to push into the West Coast. There is still some disagreement among models on how far south this trough digs into CA. They show an active storm track into the Pacific NW and far northern CA starting around the 3rd through the 9th, but shift every other run with how far south they dig the storm into the Sierra.
We’ll continue to watch the trends as we get closer to see if we could get the snowfall going again for February.
BA
