6:00PM Sunday

Platinum Powder Alert for Tonight for snowfall Ratios  18:1 with up to a Foot on Mammoth Mtn over night…..Tonopah Low to remain stationary through 2:00AM Monday morning before ejecting NE toward Utah….Snowfall rates 1 to 2 inches an hour tonight…

Storm total on Mammoth Mtn 3 to 5 feet by Morning…..

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4:00PM Update

A Blizzard Warning is in effect for Mono County tonight for strong “Northerly Flow”. Mammoth is protected from strong Northerly Flow. The Dweebs expected gusts to 30 MPH tonight in town. However, areas along the highway 395 corridor and east will have gusts to 50 mph with white-out conditions developing over night. Travel along Highway 395 will become quite dangerous tonight heading North/South.  

At the moment, we have a break in the snowfall. However, snowfall rates will pick up again tonight as upper flow responds to a deepening Tonopah Low over Nevada.

Winds/Snowfall:

NORTH WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH INCREASING TO 20 TO 30 MPH AFTER 10 PM TONIGHT WITH GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH ALONG THE HIGHWAY 395 CORRIDOR. VISIBILITY DROPPING TO NEAR ZERO AFTER 10 PM TONIGHT ALONG THE HIGHWAY 395 CORRIDOR…  DO NOT TRAVEL TONIGHT ALONG THE HIGHWAY 395 CORRIDOR……

SNOWFALL AMOUNTS WILL BE ABOUT ANOTHER 3 TO 6 INCHES TONIGHT OF LIGHT FLUFFY SNOW THROUGH EARLY MONDAY AM.

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This has been one complex storm system with just about everything a Dweeb could ask for.

  1. An Atmospheric River
  2. A Wave on the front
  3. A Quasi Tonopah Low
  4. And now a Deformation Zone that has recently become more north-south orientated…Instead of east-west…

The Dweebs have commented about the possibility of snow in the Owens Valley from this pattern and snow began falling at 7:00am in Bishop…  Snowfall in Bishop on the valley floor is one of the more challenging aspects of forecasting in that area.

Now to address the current situation….

Forecasts up to this point were based upon more of the storm associated with the wave moving on shore over Southern CA. This is pretty much a windless pattern for our area, at least for the lower elevations here in Mammoth. This is a pattern absent from any orographic’s. So snowfall amounts will not be very much if any different from what Mammoth Mt gets today and tonight.

Now with the deformation axis rotating to a more North-South Axis, moderate to possibly heavy snow at times can develop along that axis through at least noon today with lesser amounts later today and tonight. A Tonopah low is most likely involved some how in the orientation of this development.  What this also means is that areas that are usually shadowed out from a lot of snow or rainfall will get it this morning and into the evening. This includes the Owens Valley and Western Nevada. The upper flow now is South to North right up the Sierra and the Owens Valley today. Forecast models suggest any ware from 2 to 4 inches on the valley floor and up to 8 inches within elevations 500 feet above the valley floor though tonight. The main point here is that if you are traveling south today, best to get an earlier start as it may be a longer trip home….Carry Tire Chains….

 

For Mammoth Lakes we are expecting another 6 to 12 inches…Between the Town and to the top of Mammoth Mountain by Monday AM.

 

Dr Howard and the Dweebs………………………….:-)