Snow through Monday
Friday, December 20, 2013
I had about 2” on my deck this morning, and light snow has persisted this morning. The Steamboat ski area is reporting 4” new as of 11am this morning, and I would expect another inch or two before a break in snowfall occurs tonight. We did get that overrunning event last night which brought snow a bit earlier than I anticipated.
Models have trended a bit stronger with the next wave timed for Saturday afternoon into the night, and possibly another one for Sunday morning. Snow should increase throughout the day with an inch or two by the time the lifts close. Of course, that will be reported in Sunday morning’s report, so with that I would expect 4-8” by Sunday morning, with additional snow during the day.
Generally light snow will continue through Monday, with the valleys possibly seeing some sun by late in the day. Not much additional accumulations are expected during the day to add to the likely 2-4” report on Monday morning. A weak wave passes Tuesday night in northwest flow, but models have trended drier, and no significant precipitation is expected. Much drier air and sunshine infiltrates the area on Wednesday, although another weak and dry wave will create some clouds late on Thursday in continued northwest flow. Otherwise quiet and pleasant weather is expected into the beginning of next weekend.
Warm front stronger than expected and will delay snows till Friday
Thursday, December 19, 2013
A storm along the southern California coast has created southwest flow over our area that has pushed a cold front to our north today. However, this cold front is forecast to slip into our area later today or tonight, and may produce some snow as the southwest flow aloft overruns the front. It appears that weak northwest flow will develop behind the front sometime on Friday leading to a better chance of accumulating snows in the 2-4” range by the end of the day.
As the California low moves along the Mexican border and eventually east of us by Saturday, unsettled weather with persistent snow showers will continue through Saturday and Sunday. Furthermore, additional waves of energy in the northwest flow will help to intermittently intensify the showers, though amounts are still expected to be light. I would expect 2-4” each day of the weekend before the skies clear by mid-day Monday.
A nice day Tuesday before another wave form the northwest is expected by late in the day or Wednesday, though current model forecasts have only light snow predicted. Yet another dry wave is expected to drop temperatures a bit later in the work week, but no precipitation is currently forecast with this wave.
It appears a significant pattern change is lurking in the extended forecast period sometime around the new year, but global numerical models are having a tough time predicting the details. As always, stay tuned for developments!
Nice today and tomorrow before unsettled weather for Thursday
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
A storm in the Gulf of Alaska is currently affecting the northwest. Energy will split as it moves west, with a piece of energy traveling south along the coast and another piece skirting to our north. We will be spared the coldest part of the approaching storm as most of the cold air slides north and east of us.
Tomorrow should be another nice day before clouds build ahead of the approaching storm later in the day. The wave to our southwest is forecast to eject some energy over our area late Wednesday night or early Thursday leading to some accumulating snows by Thursday afternoon in the 2-4” range.
Precipitation should let up later Thursday before a cold front approaches from the north late in the day. It does not appear there will be good overrunning around the front as the flow aloft is very weak in the vicinity of this split system. Generally unsettled weather with light snow of around 1-3” is expected.
Another wave approaches from the northwest early Saturday, and this one appears to have a slight split to it as well. Slightly heavier snowfall is expected with this cool push of air, though amounts are still expected to be light and in the range of 2-4” each day of the weekend. Temperatures should continue to cool through Sunday morning continuing the light snowfall.
Skies don’t look to clear until late Monday as we remain in cool and moist northwest flow. A nice Tuesday before another approaching storm influences our area mid-week.
Light snow tonight and then nice weather before snow near the end of next week
Saturday, December 14, 2013
A weak wave passes over us in northwest flow tonight, but there is minimal cool air associated with it so I would expect even lighter amounts tomorrow than the 2-4” that fell by this morning’s report. Skies should clear during the day ushering in a very pleasant week of warm and dry weather.
By midweek, a large storm enters the west coast of the US. Models are now trending towards splitting this storm as it moves over the Great Basin, sparing us from the coldest air of Big Blue. We will, however, experience a significant cold front currently timed for late Thursday as the northern portion of the wave passes through the area. Unfortunately, the southern portion of the wave is currently forecast too far south to affect our weather, and the event will be relatively short-lived as it ends by mid-day Friday.
The ridge in the Gulf of Alaska forcing the northwest flow over our area is forecast to build behind this passing storm before a Pacific wave is forecast to travel through it early in the following work week. This may bring colder temperatures and some snow, but the forecast is too far out for much confidence in that model solution.
Arctic surge likely to return near the end of next week
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Mountain slopes have warmed nicely while the valleys remain cold while trapped in strong temperature inversions. In fact, warming temperatures aloft counter-intuitively strengthen lower-level inversions as vertical mixing in the lower levels is suppressed in the stabilizing airmass. The cold air in the valley bottoms then stays cold as the surface warming is minimized by the shallow sun angle and reflective snow surface.
There are some weak disturbances influencing our area starting tomorrow, though there is very little chance of significant accumulations. A wave to our south crosses too far south Friday morning for any snow, while another wave from the northwest is forecast to split as it moves over us later Friday, perhaps producing some light snow showers. Yet a third wave is forecast for early Sunday morning and that may produce a bit of snow as well.
Waves graze our area in warm and dry northwest flow Tuesday and Wednesday, but only a slight moderation of temperatures are expected. The developing story is the likely return near the end of the work week of Big Blue, the meteorological euphemism for an arctic outbreak similar to what we observed last week.
Lots of details are still to be resolved by the numerical models, but agreement between the models is trending stronger with this major cold and likely snowy pattern change near the end of next week.
