Saturday Sun:
Sunny skies for Saturday with highs in the 40s on the mountains to near 50 degrees down at the base.
Sunday – Monday Winds & Showers:
We will be on the southern edge of the storms moving through to our north on Sunday and Monday. We will likely see clouds and sun with some rain showers passing through the area on both days. Highs in the 40s on the mountain and near 50 degrees down at the base.
The latest model runs are showing ridgetop winds gusting up to 30-50+ mph from the west on Sunday and then up to 60-80+ mph on Monday. That could affect some upper mountain lift operations, especially on Monday.
The latest model runs have trended most of the precipitation completely to our north, with a few showing up to a tenth or two falling NW of the lake near the crest over the 2-day period. The snow levels look to stay above 9000 ft. so only rain showers are expected with maybe a few wet flakes on the tallest peaks.
Tuesday – Friday:
The last four days of the month look to be sunny as high pressure amplifies up the West Coast. Highs in the 50s for the lower elevations, and 40s for the higher elevations, along with lighter winds after Monday.
1st Week of March:
During the 1st week of March, the ridge begins to shift north towards Alaska which could open up the door to storms moving underneath into the West Coast.
The latest operational model runs show the chance for a weak/moderate system moving through around the 2nd-3rd. Then they suggest a wetter storm is possible around the 5th-7th. We’ll be watching the trends on those systems closely.
Long-Range Forecast:
The operational models don’t show any prolonged stormy periods through the 2nd week of March still/yet, but they show the mean ridge position in the eastern Pacific shifts west to a position south of the Aleutian Islands.
That can be a decent pattern for wetter storms to spin up in the trough in the eastern Pacific and move into the West Coast. The ensemble mean models show increasing precipitation between the 5th-10th of March. So we’ll continue to watch the trends to see if specific storms start showing up on the operational/deterministic models as we get closer.
BA
