Brought to you by Howard Sheckter
Spring Storms Bring Clouds….Wind and a Little Snow……It looks like the Mammoth Pass April 1st Record may be broken….
Monday March 27, 2017
First of all I would like to thank all of those that have supported the “Weather Letter” this winter. Whether or not I do a weather letter next winter, I will still keep my blog going regardless. I will update it this Summer and Fall as well. It is an outlet for my passion of this wonderful and exciting science! Additionally, I will be resuming my blog on a regular basis like during past winters for free beginning May 1st. In the meantime, I will post more often during the transition in April….
This has been one of the most exciting winters I have ever experienced living in Mammoth Since 1978. I always wished that I could have lived in Mammoth during the famous Winter of 1969. This winter from what I can tell is pretty much as close as you can get to that great winter of 1969! The biggest difference that I can see was that the Owens Valley did not get the snow that it had during the winter of 1969 in January of that year.
Weather Discussion:
The weather maps this morning showed a weakening trough moving into Nevada. In its wake was a small impulse bringing some clouds, winds and not much else. Mammoth Mt reported 1 to 2 inches of snow overnight.
The bottom portion of the trough was moisture starved with only light accumulations received. I expect it to be quite breezy the next few days and windy over the top of Mammoth Mt and down through the Owens Valley. Highs on Monday will be near 40 climbing to the mid 40s Tuesday and near 50 on Wednesday. Lows will be in the teens and 20s. Expect breezy weather in town with gusts to 30 MPH this evening
I just peaked at the 5 day means in the ECMWF and GFS. Both models have the mean ridge position too close to the west coast for a meaningful storm this week. The GFS (American Models) has more amplitude and so there would be a better chance of showers later this week like Thursday from a NW slider. Overall, this week’s weather looks like periods of unsettled weather with warming and cooling, (Typically Spring) with windy periods.
For what it’s worth, the pattern does seem to be progressive with the mean ridge progressing east of California by next week. This may allow a belt of westerlies to move into our state with a significant storm about the 7th or 8th. As of 8:45AM Monday, both European and GFS models has a significant storm in their sights. This is contrary to last nights run of the European, which was dry that period. (Caveat Emptor) Remember this is week 2 in spring, so don’t get too excited yet!!
Dr Howard and the Dweebs……………………:-)