Snowfall Report:
As of 5 AM Wednesday, the mountain received 20 inches of powdery new snow in the past 24 hours! That brings the 3-day storm total to 40 inches, and the season total to 300 inches already!
Wednesday Storm:
Snow showers return Wednesday morning with a period of steadier snow possible during the afternoon-evening hours. Then tapering off overnight. Snow levels start low and then rise through the evening. They could be near the base by the end of the day and then rise above 7000 ft. Wednesday evening as the moisture starts to back away from the Sierra.
Highs in the 30s. Ridgetop winds Wednesday could be gusting up to 50-60+ mph from the west-southwest through the afternoon. That could affect a few mountaintop lifts. By Thursday morning we could see additional snowfall amounts of:
- 2-6 inches at the base. (changes to rain at the end and wet by morning)
- 4-8 inches for mid-mountain elevations. (becoming wet by morning as temps rise)
- 5-9 inches up top.
Thursday:
The flow into northern CA is forecast to back west away from the coast Thursday and it turns more southerly. With the warm flow continuing into CA, we could see some sun and clouds with highs into the 40s at the base and 30s up top. Ridgetop winds gusting up to 40-50+ mph from the south-southwest.
MLK Weekend Storms:
The next storm is forecast to move in by late morning Friday and continues into Friday night. It will bring in some colder air and snow with snow levels falling to the base as the snow starts to fall. Ridgetop winds gusting up to 60-70+ mph from the southwest which could affect some mountaintop lifts. Highs in the 30s.
The next storm moves in Saturday with another wave that could keep snow showers going through Sunday, and then another storm moves through Monday. That could keep the snow falling most of the period from Friday through Monday evening. There will be varying intensities with some periods of heavier snow and lighter more showery snow.
Highs in the 20s up top through the weekend and near freezing at the base. The ridgetop winds could be gusty through the period with gusts up to 50-70+ mph from the southwest. That’s not severe but we could see some upper mountain lifts affected at times each day through the holiday weekend.
We will continue to fine-tune the forecast, but as of Wednesday morning it looks like we could see:
- 6-12 inches of new snow by Saturday morning.
- 1-2 feet of new snow by Sunday morning.
- 6-12 inches of new snow by Monday morning.
In total that would be 2-4 feet of new snow over the holiday weekend period. Great for continuing to bring fresh snow, but difficult for weekend travel and stormy skiing conditions expected up on the mountain for most of the weekend.
Long-Range:
We could see a break in the storms for Tuesday the 17th. Then a final storm in the series is possible for the 18th-19th. Then a drier pattern is still forecast to kick in starting on the 20th into the last week of January.
We’ll be watching the long-range forecast trends closely to see how long the drier period could last.
BA
