MOUNTAIN WEATHER FORECAST

Time and Day: 0900 Monday 

The Snapshot:  A beautiful Lead Day morning with 10” of new snow.  Today will be partly cloudy with some light passing snow showers possible.  Mixed rain and snow begins tomorrow with and an active week of weather ahead.  

The Science:  A high-pressure ridge between storms will create some partial clearing today.  A strong triple-point frontal system arrives early tomorrow morning with moderate to heavy snow and rain.  This system is packing a punch with high water contents (+1”) and strong winds.  The precipitation will likely start out as snow with east flow influence, and then slowly turn to mixed rain.  A cold front will switch the precipitation back to snow early Wednesday morning with snow showers tapering off through the day.

The Long Range:  Hit repeat Wednesday night as a another strong snow/rain/snow event forms.  Storms will continue to move through the PNW every other day or so into early next week.

Precipitation Ending at 4am: Today 24hr water = .25 Snow = 2-4 Tomorrow’s 24hr water = +-1”  snow = 3-8 Trend and Timing: The main event arrives after midnight tonight with moderate to heavy snow and rain falling through the day.  Snow tapers off by noon or so tomorrow.

24hr temperature ending at 4 am tomorrow:                                        Low: 26    High: 34 Freezing level: +- 4000’ – 5500’. Trend and Timing:    Freezing levels will hover around 4000’ into early tomorrow morning.  Freezing levels are expected to spike to near 6000’ tomorrow afternoon and then fall back below pass level sometime during the night.

24hr Winds (mph) ending at 4 am tomorrow: Base:  0-5 E Ridge Top: 5-10 ESE Trend and Timing: Light east flow will form this afternoon with SE flow aloft.  Winds increase with the arrival of tomorrows front.

jM