5:25PM Sunday:

Arctic Ribbon coming through now…. In back…very cold air to pour in,  all night and through 4:00AM Monday….

 

Revised 12:15AM Sunday

Winds Gusting to 108MPH over the Summit at the moment….

 

A an Arctic Ribbon will pass through Mammoth by 4:00PM Sunday.  The storm system that has been forecasted to moved mainly through the Great Basin has taken a track more over California now. The main idea is still that no moisture will be entrained into the system from the west. However, this system is so cold, that it will squeeze most any moisture left in existing air mass out of it.  Behind the Ribbon and front will be a period of upslope.  There are lots of possibilities here from strong Mono Lake effect for Lee Vining and June Lake to good upslope snowfall for Mammoth Mt. The action of this pattern change with storms now dropping south over the far west this week will do much to empty the Arctic Reservoir of the Extreme Cold that has built up over several weeks over Central Canada….

Mammoth Mountain may receive some 6 to 8 inches over the crest, 3 to 6 inches at the Main Lodge and here in town some 1 to 3+ inches between Sunday night and Tuesday AM. With snow to water ratio’s of 20:1 expected, true Platinum Powder conditions will exist on Mammoth MT, Sunday night and Monday.  It will be cold Monday AM with lows about 5 degrees in town.  However daytime highs will stay in the low 20s. It will remain windy over the upper elevations Monday and breezy in town.  One more thing….The Wind Chill Factor.  You will need to ware face protection to ski/board Monday as wind chills will range between -15 and -30 over the upper elevations.  This is especially true for the morning Monday for you powder lovers.

The fact that this weather system is coming in further west than earlier forecasted is a very good sign of retrogression!   Odds are, that subsequent storms will now come in from a more westerly direction with over water trajectory, especially by the end of the month of February and Early March.  This means that the likelihood of significant snowfall is in our future over the next two to 4 weeks.

 

Stay Tuned!

 

Dr Howard and the Dweebs…………………:-)