For the Dweebs, this is my least favorite time of the year.  It is the transition season between Spring and Summer with the northwest jet prolonged through Northern and Central CA. The Jet is tilted NW/SE as a long wave upper high inside of 140 west is too far off shore to bring warm temperatures and too close to California for any major storms. The front right exit region favors the sierra with “Wave Clouds”, so you wave cloud photographers, will have the opportunity for some good shots this week in the early AM hours and late afternoon mostly areas east of Highway 395.  The NW jet with its front right exit region over the central sierra favors convergence aloft in this sector. Downward vertical motion results in strong winds at times aloft and mainly orographically induced snow showers. 

It will be quite breezy to windy over the upper elevations on Mammoth Mt most of this work week.

There will be nuisance snow showers this week, mainly Monday through Wednesday morning. However, the showers will not add up to much of anything.  I call it nuisance weather!  But it is necessary to get the season along before summer finally hits in June.  Expect highs in the 40s and low 50s with lows in the 20s and 30s.  Winds will Crank at times to 80MPH over the crest with gusty winds in town as well.

Will there be one last storm before summer hits?

Maybe more than one….

I just had a peak at the European Ensembles for week two. (next week) It shows; 1st,  The sharpening of the upper ridge off shore without the progression of it into California. This argues against any big lasting warmup. It shows a cold low dropping SW from Alberta Canada on the 1st and settling in over the Western Great Basin on the May 2nd.  There after, retrogression takes place with the next short wave dropping south down the west coast. Meanwhile, the upstream ridge retrogrades west and builds up into Alaska, (-EPO) style.

So here we go again!!  Remember, this is the Euro, not the GFS.

 

The Climate Models CFS climate forecast system suggest that the 3rd week of May will be colder than normal with the chance of snowfall.  No telling how much though.