May 28, 2009
An unusually long period of daily thunderstorm activity has set in across the Sierra, and Tahoe has not been spared. There is more on the way.
Today’s storms will come with a twist: it looks like the storms that do form will emerge earlier in the day, closer to noon than late afternoon. The high-altitude winds, meanwhile, will become more southeast than east, allowing the storms to drift off the Sierra Crest. The cells will be on the small side and slow-moving, so widespread heavy rainfall is unlikely, but a few intense downpours are possible. The early start to the activity should also mean an early end, with the late afternoon and evening mostly free of any storms.
Thunderstorm activity is expected to increase in the days ahead as even more moisture arrives off the coast to feed into the system. A low pressure system off of Southern California is moving inland and sending its moisture north toward Tahoe. The storms on Friday and Saturday should be more widespread and intense, and temperatures should remain several degees above normal for this time of year. Highs should be in the 70s along the Lake and high 50s to low 60s near the mountain passes.
Early next week another upper-level low pressure system approaches California from the north, and it seems on track to- produce even more widespread thunderstorms across most of the Sierra, the foothills and possibly the Sacramento Valley. We’ll be keeping our eye on that one and providing updates at least daily at www.tahoeloco.com