Monday – Thursday Weather:
The mostly sunny skies and mild temperatures continue for Monday into Tuesday. Highs into the 60s for the lower elevations and 50s for the higher elevations. We could see enough moisture in the atmosphere by Tuesday afternoon for a few showers to pop up over the mountains, but maybe just some clouds.
Then a bit cooler for Wednesday and Thursday with mostly sunny skies and highs in the 50s, and a chance for afternoon showers.
Thursday Night – Friday Storm:
The latest model runs suggest a better chance for showers Thursday night into Friday as a weak system moves through northern CA. Highs drop into the 40s near the base and 30s on the mountain.
Snow levels start out up around 8000 ft. Thursday afternoon, but are forecast to drop Thursday night, down near the base by Friday morning. Then rising back up to around 6700-7700 ft. by Friday afternoon.
With the snow levels dipping near the base Thursday night into Friday morning, we could see some snow accumulate on the mountain with this system. We could see a coating to an inch or two on the lower mountain by Friday evening, and 1-4 inches on the upper mountain.
The Weekend:
The storm is forecast to clear the region for the weekend. We could see mostly sunny skies with highs in the 50s for the lower elevations and 40s for the higher elevations.
The Alpine Meadows side of the mountain closes for the season at the end of the day on Sunday.
Long-Range Forecast:
Additional cool troughs are still forecast to dig into the West Coast through the first week of May. That should continue the below-average temperatures. But below average in May is the 40s & 50s for highs. Overall not expecting any prolonged warm periods.
The troughs will continue to keep the door open to weak systems dropping into CA. Some forecast models suggest that the next system could bring some showers next Mon-Tue. Others keep that system a bit farther north but keep the door open and show a storm along the CA coast around the 5th-7th of May.
Overall the cool and unsettled pattern could bring some pop-up showers in the afternoons through the long-range, and maybe another weak system or two that could bring a better chance of showers and possibly a little more mountain snow.
BA
P.S. I plan to post every other day through next Monday the 29th, and then I’ll be back next Fall as the storms ramp back up going into the 2024-25 ski season!