It looks as though our perfect late summer/fall weather, that saw temps spike into the high 70’s on Wednesday, is about to change by Friday. NOAA has issued special weather statements for the Tahoe Basin, and while it might be brief, it sounds like we will be seeing our first fresh flakes of 2011-2012 sometime next week.
As of today there aren’t any precipitation numbers to speculate on, but two special weather statements were issued for our area on Wednesday. One makes mention of a potential snowline of 6k feet. Even if it’s brief, that might mean a few higher elevations locales could get enough of a blanket to harvest a few early season pow turns. Even better, the second statement says there’s an increasing probability of a moderate to heavy precipitation event above 8k for the middle of next week.
From NOAA:
Special Weather Statement #1
…COOLER…WET AND WINDY WEATHER POSSIBLE NEXT WEEK…
A SERIES OF COLD FRONTS WILL SWEEP ACROSS NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
NEXT WEEK. TEMPERATURES WILL BEGIN TO COOL THIS WEEKEND AHEAD OF
THE FIRST FRONT…DUE TO ARRIVE MONDAY. RAIN SHOWERS WILL SPREAD
ACROSS THE REGION MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT. SNOW LEVELS MAY BRIEFLY
DROP TO THE HIGHER PASSES SUCH AS SONORA PASS AND THE HIGHWAY 89
SUMMIT AREA NEAR MT. LASSEN. ONLY A LIGHT DUSTING OF SNOW IS
EXPECTED INITIALLY.
A STRONGER COLD FRONT MAY SPREAD PERIODS OF MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN
ACROSS THE VALLEYS AND FOOTHILLS TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY.
GUSTY SOUTHERLY WINDS MAY ACCOMPANY THIS FRONT…ESPECIALLY
TUESDAY NIGHT. SNOW LEVELS MAY DROP BELOW THE TRANS-SIERRA PASSES
WEDNESDAY. WHILE THE EXACT TIMING AND DETAILS OF THIS WEATHER
SYSTEM ARE STILL COMING INTO FOCUS…BE AWARE THAT WINTER
TRAVELING CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE OVER ALL TRANS-SIERRA PASSES
TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY.
A SHOWERY AND UNSTABLE AIR MASS MAY REMAIN OVER THE REGION
WEDNESDAY. THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE IN THE VALLEYS…WITH SNOW
SHOWERS ABOVE 6000 FEET. CONTINUE TO MONITOR NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE FORECASTS AND STATEMENTS FOR UPDATES ON THIS DEVELOPING
UNSETTLED WEATHER.
Special Weather Statement #2
…SIGNIFICANT PATTERN CHANGE COMING NEXT WEEK…
AFTER A PERIOD OF RELATIVELY QUIET WEATHER AND ABOVE NORMAL
TEMPERATURES IN SEPTEMBER…BIG CHANGES WILL BE COMING NEXT WEEK.
A DEEP AREA OF LOW PRESSURE IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER THE GULF
OF ALASKA THIS WEEKEND…DIPPING INTO THE WESTERN U.S. EARLY NEXT
WEEK. THIS WILL BRING MUCH COOLER TEMPERATURES FOR NEXT
WEEK…WITH AFTERNOON HIGHS DROPPING INTO THE 60S AND LOW 70S
ACROSS WESTERN NEVADA AND 50S FOR THE SIERRA. STRONGER WINDS ARE
LIKELY AHEAD OF THE MAIN STORM…WITH POTENTIAL IMPACTS TO TRAVEL
ALONG HIGHWAY 395 DUE TO GUSTS OVER 45 MPH EARLY NEXT WEEK.
IN ADDITION…THERE IS INCREASING PROBABILITY FOR A MODERATE TO
HEAVY PRECIPITATION EVENT BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK…WITH VALLEY
RAINS AND MOUNTAIN SNOW ABOVE 8000 FEET. DETAILS IN THE EXACT
AMOUNT OF MOISTURE AND STRENGTH OF THE WINDS AND COLD AIR ARE
STILL UNCERTAIN…BUT FORECASTER CONFIDENCE IS HIGH WITH REGARD TO
THE OVERALL PATTERN CHANGE FOR NEXT WEEK.
Sounds like we’ll be watching NOAA like a hawk the next few
days, hopefully the rocks skis will be coming out sometime
next week, and it’s time to get FIRED UP!!!!!!
