Sunday – Monday:
We have some strong inversions happening most mornings. That is bringing low clouds and valley fog with clear skies on the upper mountain. Temperatures are in the teens at the base and 20s up top Sunday morning. The fog should burn off through the day
Partly-mostly sunny skies are expected into Monday, with maybe some increasing clouds Monday ahead of the next system. Highs in the 30s on the mountain. Breezy winds from the west Sunday and Monday gusting up to 30-40+ mph up top.
Tuesday System:
Mostly cloudy skies and breezy winds with the chance of at least a few rain & snow showers from early Tuesday into Tuesday night. Winds gusting up to 30-40+ mph up top from the west. Highs in the 30s.
Snow levels could be near the base Tuesday morning and then could rise to around 7000 ft. during the afternoon, and possibly higher Tuesday night. That means we could see some rain showers at the base Tuesday afternoon and evening. Above 7500 ft. we could see a coating to an inch of snow.
Wednesday – Thursday:
It could stay breezy over the ridges through Thursday with gusts up to 30-40+ mph from the west. We should see clearing Wednesday with mostly sunny skies by the afternoon. Thursday we could start sunny with increasing clouds possibly later in the day as the next system approaches. Highs in the 30s on the mountain to near 40 degrees at the base both days.
Friday System:
High pressure will be building over CA through Friday. The next storm moves inland to our north on Friday. Most forecast models keep any moisture to our north, but a few suggest some light showers could reach the northern Sierra, with some higher-elevation snow showers possible. We’ll watch the trends on this system all week.
Long-Range:
The long-range models continue to show high-pressure building in stronger over CA for Christmas weekend, the 24th-25th. That would bring us sunny skies and some milder temperatures. Highs into the 40s for the weekend and maybe near 50 degrees at the base by Christmas Day.
The dry pattern may last at least into Monday the 26th. Then by the 27th through the end of December, the long-range models are showing a bit of a shift in the pattern. That may allow storms tracking into the Pacific NW to dig farther south into CA and the northern Sierra. We’ll continue to watch this trend to see if we could pick up some stronger storms during the last 4-5 days of the month.
BA
