3 Storms Forecast to Hit California This Week | 5,500′ Snow Levels

You gotta love May in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California.  Every year in May, we get snow.  Usually at least 2 solid snowstorms.  This year is no exception.  Right now, NOAA is talking about three different storms that may hit California this week.

Last week, Tahoe and Mammoth were pummeled with snow by a Gulf of Alaska storm system.  Mammoth got 18″ up top and extended their season indefinitely.

This week, three more storms are on their way and the second one could be a decent snow producer for the Sierra Nevada.  The second storm is another Gulf of Alaska system that threatens to drop snow levels in Tahoe to 5,500′ and snow levels in Mammoth to 6,500′.

Two weather systems will be impacting Northern California this week. The first is moving through the Pacific Northwest right now, and may bring showers and thunderstorms from generally about Chico northward today and Tuesday. The second is likely to bring area-wide precipitation to NorCal, and should be arriving Thursday into Friday. – NOAA Sacramento

Let’s keep our fingers crossed for some more big snow in Mammoth & Tahoe this May.

NOAA Forecast Discussion:

DUE TO THE COOL NATURE OF THE LOW, SNOW LEVELS WILL COME DOWN TO AROUND
6500-7000 FEET WITH POTENTIAL FOR TRAVEL IMPACTS OVER THE PASSES
FRIDAY AS TROUGH AXIS MOVES ACROSS THE SIERRA. AS WE GO INTO
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, WEAK SHORTWAVE RIDGING MAY DECREASE CHANCES OF
PRECIPITATION BRIEFLY, ALTHOUGH LATEST MODELS ARE HINTING AT YET
ANOTHER CLOSED LOW DROPPING INTO CALIFORNIA FROM THE GULF OF ALASKA
BY SUNDAY WITH MORE UNSETTLED WEATHER.