Tahoe Weather Blog

Last night's storm was a little disappointing. However, it appears as though the Northern Carson range may have been the big winner with around 6 inches of snow. Today another storm is on the doorstep and will bring us even more snow. With the big hit coming in late tonight and lasting through tomorrow night. Some areas of the Sierra could pick up another 3 inches of liquid precip on top of the 3 inches they have received since Saturday. The winds are coming too, starting late morning. Looking ahead, Friday will be the only near normal temperature day for the next week or more, as we will remain in this stormy pattern. Another unseasonably large storm is going to slam the Pacific NW and may have an impact on our weather starting Saturday night and lasting through Monday. The blocking ridge of high pressure will try to make a recovery. Looking way ahead, Memorial day weekend looks like a mixed bag with Sunday and Monday being nice with high's in the mid-70's. Saturday co...

As our dominant high pressure system drifts further west, storms are squeezing by it, down the coast and hitting us in Tahoe. Yesterday's storm dumped over a foot in the higher elevations of the Sierra with 6-10 inches in the Carson Range. Two more storms are going to squeeze by until the high pressure system moves back east and blocks the storms again. Here is a look:   I expect another 1-2 feet by the end of Wednesday for the Sierra and very nearly that in the Carson Range as two decent storms are poised to hit the Tahoe area. Here is a look for late tomorrow: One storm hits tonight and another tomorrow night. Tomorrow's storm has even more potential than tonight's which should dump over a foot of snow in the higher elevations.  Some areas are going to pick up nearly 3 inches of liquid precip, which is almost unheard of this time of  year. Here is the precip totals through Wednesday: Snow levels will be right around lake level and these systems will have no sign...

The high pressure ridge which has dominated our weather for nearly a month now is going to drift ever so slightly west, which will allow an unseasonably strong low pressure system to sneak into our area and have an impact on our weather for the next 5 days or so. I understand there is a bike race that goes over the pass between Kings Beach to Northstar tomorrow. There will be snow over that pass tonight through tomorrow morning with 2-6 inches of accumulation likely. At Lake level, the NWS is calling for 1-3 inches, falling late tonight through tomorrow morning. There is not a ton of moisture associated with this storm. This, however, this is a very deep low and the pressure gradient will squeeze out some very strong winds, especially in the Sierra. Those winds will start late this afternoon, peak tonight and remain strong at least through the day tomorrow. Here is a look at the GFS precip forecast for 5:00am tomorrow morning: Again, not heavy precip, but the timing should guarantee...

The models are now backing off of the high pressure system moving south. In fact by the end of next week they have it dominating the entire west coast. So expect more of the same. That is not to say the potential does not exist for a large storm at this time of year. However, chances are greatly diminished. Remember last year? Here is a picture of my daughter snowboarding on Easter Sunday. I took this picture from about 5 feet away from her in the afternoon on Slide Mountain: That stormed moved over the mountains and dumped in Reno too. I guess what I am saying is that the winter winds down, the potential does exist for one or two more pretty good sized storms. In fact, I would be surprised if that does not happen. Happy Easter!

Here is a look at early next week, notice the the blocking high has moved well south and the storm track is now back in Northern California ... More later.

The ridge of high pressure that has been sitting off the west coast for what seems like a month, does not appear to be going anywhere. This is causing the storms to move well to our north. Occasionally, the ridge gets backed down by a stronger storm and we get a glancing blow, which comes in the form of mostly wind and minor amounts of precipitation. Here is a look at what has been in place now for a couple of weeks: You can clearly see the blocking high pressure system. We are right on the edge of the block which is why we are getting an occasional wind storm. That will not change. Expect minor disturbances Tomorrow and Thursday. I do not see any major storm activity. However there are some signs that the blocking high will eventually move on, which may open the door for more energy to hit our area. We are moving from a La Nina back to an El Nino. I will talk about that in the coming posts. Stay Tuned ...

Current We have two impressive systems that are going to collide. The high pressure to our west is going to give way to a very impressive Low Pressure system to our north. There is a decent moisture tap, however this storm is coming straight out of the north. That means the tap will not be as wet. If this system stays just a hair west, we will get more moisture. For now, however this looks like an ok snow event for the Tahoe Sierra with 1-2 feet at the Sierra Crest and 6-15 inches in the Carson Range. It is going to get cold. The chart below shows what is happening. Notice the area just south of the low. That is some seriously cold air. Some of that air is coming our way for tomorrow and tomorrow night.   Looking Ahead We are again going to be on the southern edge of some very impressive storms for this time of year. This gets cranked up next week. I talked about the PNA going negative, it looks like we will have a decent chance of being hit by 1 or more storms in the next co...