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It is a Good News Bad News Scenario for Smoke

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 I will be brief: The Bad News: Our winds will come almost directly from the west leading up to next weekend. That means the smoke could be here to stay for at least the next several days. Around Saturday a front moves in that will increase the winds and bring them more from the north. Of course that will make dealing with the Mosquito fire that much more difficult. The rainy season does not start for nearly 2 months. The Good News: We made it all the way to September before the air quality tanked. The winds could clear out the smoke toward the end of the week. There are several storms that should change our winds frequently in the coming weeks. Here is a look at the forecast winds for this weekend: Qualifier: Predicting local surface wind direction is very difficult. Stay Tuned ...

The Storm Door is Wide Open

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If this were January, this would be a major event. Truth be told, storms are just not that strong this time of year. However, we are in for several moderate events, especially considering it is mid-April. As my friend over at Unofficial Rose  put it, " Well it looks like we will get a week of January in April which I gotta say is classic Nevada weather. 75 one day, below freezing the next." Let's start with Saturday's storm. This is a stronger storm than the one that left around 7 inches on Slide Mountain: It is also warmer with snow levels creeping up above 7,000 feet. You can see the separation of warm and cold air, right now we are in the warmer air at the peak of the storm. All snow for Rose though. I would be remiss not to mention that prior to Saturday there will be a few waves of precip that could leave an inch or two. Saturday's storm could leave as much as a foot. Shadowing for Rose, does not appear to be in play. The next storm is on track for Tuesday. I...

Seriously, 5 Storms in 15 Days

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After a very dry start to 2022 (following a record wet finish to 2021), Ma Nature, for some reason unknown to man has decided to bring the storms back. We are tracking 5 storms in the next 15 days. Tomorrow 4/11 @11am Thursday 4/14 @ 11am All snow for Mt. Rose, looking at snow elevations starting around 6000-7000 feet. Friday 4/15 @ 5pm This one looks pretty impressive from a moisture standpoint. Tuesday 4/19 @ 11am Typical Sierra split storm, going to give us more snow, could be a shadow effect for Carson Range, however. Sunday 4/24 @5pm Smallest and possible the last in this cycle, again, we are seeing some shadowing for Carson Range. Additional 3-6 feet of April snow for the Sierra in the next 2 weeks! Stay Tuned ...

Snow on Tap For Next Week

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As the resort ski season winds down, Ma Nature is saying, "not so fast". A Pacific storm will drop out of the north, pull up moisture and could well produce valley snow and will certainly produce mountain snow. This storm will NOT be shadowed so we expect precip throughout the Carson Range and even into the valleys.  This storm will continue to strengthen and will produce very heavy snow for the Rockies. For us, we are expecting 6-12 inches of snow for the Sierra and Carson Range. Mammoth will get around double that. There are places in the Rockies and central plains that could be looking at 4-5 feet of snow.  Notice the very cold air coming down from the north. Temperatures will be off by as much as 30-40 degrees compared to the last few days. Having said that, they will quickly recover to near or above average by late next week. What is most impressive about our storm, is it picks up strength as it moves across the West and into the Northern Plains. If this is snow for Sout...

California to Get Nice Shot of Moisture

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  Early Monday Morning This storm showed some promise. However, like the last storm, it appears the Carson Range will be shadowed out. These storms just do not have the strength to hold together over the Sierra. This will allow some much needed moisture into California. As we get later into the season, the storms become weaker. Temps recover quickly, although not quite as warm as this past week. Stay Tuned ...

Two Storms Possible Starting Next Weekend

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The two most reliable models are predicting a couple of decent storms starting next weekend. In all we could be looking at up to 2 feet of additional snow for Mt. Rose. The GFS model is showing this for the 27th: GFS: Sunday March 27th The European (most reliable) has this storm showing up late on the 28th and then another storm on the 31st; ECMWF: March 31st If these storms hit they will provide much needed moisture for the west. There is going to be a "rain shadow", however, I think Rose should still get 1-2 feet of snow. The other side of Lake Tahoe could be looking at 2-4 feet of snow above 7,000 feet. Excellent conditions still exist out there. My hat goes off to the groomers up at Rose. This additional snow will allow the great conditions to continue. Between next weekend and now, however, we are looking at some very warm temperature. We are talking about highs in the leeward valleys in the 70's (Wed, Thu, Fri and Sat). Stay Tuned ...

Weak Storm for Saturday Night

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 Well, this is the best we can do. We are tracking a couple of storms. The first is on tap for this weekend and could bring up to 6 inches of snow to the Carson Range starting Saturday afternoon and lasting until very early Sunday morning: After that we expect a big warm up that could see valley temps in the mid-70's by the middle of next week. Of course that will change and around the 28th of this month we see another fairly weak system, which is not uncommon for this time of year. We can see very large storms in April and in May. I suspect Ma Nature will turn things around just about the time we all catch spring fever. As far as season totals, this has been a pretty average La Nina year. Remember La Nina is fewer but larger storms. We have certainly seen that. Mt. Rose is going to be very close to average snowfall for the season. If you believe in averages and we certainly do, next year could bring above average precipitation. Stay Tuned ...