Sunday – Tuesday Weather:
Mostly sunny days each day with a few clouds possible. Highs in the 40s.
Wednesday – Thursday Storm:
Not much has changed as snow showers are still expected to push in between 4-7 AM and continue through the day with the intensity increasing later in the day. The heaviest snow is still expected for Wednesday night with snow showers lingering into Thursday.
Ridgetop winds increasing from the south-southwest and gusting up to 60-80+ mph, likely closing some upper mountain lifts. They turn more southwesterly Wednesday night which will help with orographic lift and enhancement of the precipitation, and then lighter from the west for Thursday. Highs in the 30s Wednesday and 20s Thursday.
The latest model runs now keep snow levels near to below the base on Wednesday in the 6000-6500 ft. range before falling later in the day and plummeting Wednesday night. That means we could see some of the heaviest snowfall rates Wednesday night when the snow levels are crashing and snow ratios are increasing to 15-20:1 on the mountain.
The snow should be getting deep and powdery by Thursday morning. A few additional inches on Thursday from the snow showers should bring the storm total by Friday morning to around 19-26 inches at the base, 23-30 inches near mid-mountain, and 27-34 inches up top!
Friday Storm:
The next storm looks much weaker but could bring more snow showers on Friday with the cold air sticking around.
The ridgetop winds from the west could increase back up to 40-60+ mph, which is marginal for affecting upper mountain ski lifts. Highs in the 20s for the upper mountain and 30s for the lower elevations. I’ll have my detailed snowfall forecast starting Monday morning, but this one is inches, not feet.
Saturday Night – Monday Storms:
Scattered snow showers could linger into Saturday with highs in the 30s. The winds increase from the southwest ahead of the next storm and could be gusting up to 60-80+ mph by the end of the day.
The next storm continues to trend wetter and now looks like it could be another decent snowstorm as it moves in Saturday night and continues into next Sunday. This storm has the potential to be measured in feet as well if the current trends continue. It’s another cold storm with snow levels staying below the base.
A final weaker system could move through next Sunday night into Monday with a final round of snow showers to put the icing on the cake. The forecast for this 6-day period starting Wednesday looks like one of the best of the season, let’s hope nothing changes other than trending snowier.
Long-Range Forecast:
Hopefully, we pick up a lot of snow over the next 8 days, because beyond the 17th the long-range models continue to show the pattern shifting, with high-pressure building in near the West Coast and the storm track shifting north, with a drier pattern expected for northern CA.
We’ll continue to watch the trends for the spring weather pattern into April to see if any late-season snowstorms will show up.
BA
