It appears that we have come to an end of the big storm for the month of February. The weather will be cold through the end of this week with temperatures running some 15 to 20 degrees below normal. A California slider will bring a reinforcing shot of cold air into California Wednesday night and Thursday bringing additional cooling and continuing the trend of highs in the teens and 20s this week. There will be light snow that will bring some 3 to 6 inches of platinum powder during Wednesday night and Thursday. The will be some warming by next Sunday but highs may still remain below freezing.  On an interesting note, both Lake Crowley and Bridgeport residents may be greeted by low temperatures > -20F Tuesday morning so throw another log or two in the wood burner tonight. I call it a three dog night.

Longer Range:

looking at both the RMM2, the gfs phase diagram, MJO phase space, the MJO is still forecasted to stay in phase 8/1. Historically this is associated with the under cutting of the westerlies in February and early March. Beyond Mid March, the relationship breaks down. The European models ensembles show a strong -EPO and closed upper high over Alaska. This block should force the westerlies to the south, back into California. However, not until the first week of March, so we have a nice break coming up through the end of February…….Enjoy!