Weather
California is currently experiencing persistent above average temperatures and below average precipitation. However, this could end late next week. The National Weather Service is calling for the possibility of Colder Pacific Storms impacting the state late next week. That could bring below average temperatures and precipitation in the form of snow at higher elevations.
If the forecast stays true and colder pacific storms arrive next week, precipitation in the form of snow would most likely occur at relatively high elevations.
Additional Information:
California: Colder Pacific Storms Are Possible Late Next Week
With the ridge retrograded and amplified over Alaska, and a weakening of the east coast trough, longer range guidance is suggesting a colder pattern for the west coast. There are no hints of any atmospheric river type moisture taps in the next two weeks, but colder Pacific storms become a possibility by the end of next week. Granted, there is a significant amount of spread in forecast guidance, but it`s at least a glimmer of hope in this current blocked pattern. - NOAA
Inversion continues this week in CA, which is an increase in temperature with height. Along with that, there is almost no chance of any form of precipitation this week.
**Featured Image Courtesy Of: AP Photo/Nick Ut
CA Area Forecast Discussion:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Reno NV 255 AM PST Wed Dec 13 2017 .SYNOPSIS... High pressure will continue to bring dry conditions along with valley inversions, cold nights, and light winds for the next few days, with localized air quality issues possible in urban valleys. Inversions should ease by Friday and Saturday as a weak cold front brushes the Oregon border, but are likely to return later in the the weekend. .SHORT TERM... High pressure and tranquil weather along with overnight inversions will stick around for the next few days through Thursday night. By Friday, the ridge off the California coast begins to flatten due to a passing shortwave from the northwest. Increased cloud cover north of Reno along with a slight pick up in the winds, is expected for Friday into Saturday. Winds will not be particularly strong, mainly west to northwest around 10 mph in the valleys with stronger gusts along the Sierra crest. Temperatures will be on the warmer side Friday due to the winds and the increased mixing. Upper 50s for the highs and 20s for the lows with less inversion influence will be the result. Once the shortwave passes just to the north on Saturday, temperatures will decrease again back to more seasonable for this time of year. As for precipitation, most of the region will be dry except for a few sprinkles possible near areas along the Oregon border. By Saturday night, the ridge starts to build in again bringing back the light east flow and yes...the inversions. -LaGuardia .LONG TERM...Sunday onward... For Sunday, high pressure edging back into CA with light northeast to east surface flow will again lead to inversion conditions, with temperatures slow to rise especially for lower valleys of northwest and west central NV. This pattern will set up the potential for valley haze again which could persist into early next week. Moderate northeast to east ridge winds should slowly decrease during the day. As for the hope of breaking out of the dry and stagnant weather pattern next week, the latest guidance trends are less encouraging. Ridging rebuilds eastward from CA to the Great Basin, with the storm track remaining well north near the US-Canada border. While previous guidance runs favored a stronger trough and cold front dropping southward into the Great Basin around midweek (or even a low closing off over CA), these scenarios which would have brought a chance for precipitation now appear to be delayed until later next week, if they even occur at all. (This isn`t all bad news as a southward-dropping trough/front would most likely bring extra cold air and even stronger inversion conditions into the region, with only minor amounts of precip for the Sierra and western NV). Given the increased potential for inversion conditions, we backed off on warming especially through Monday (highs generally upper 40s-lower 50s), with chilly nights again expected for the valleys (mainly teens to lower 20s, but could end up colder). We didn`t fully abandon the possibility of shortwave energy suppressing the ridge by the Tuesday-Wednesday time frame with ridge winds shifting to the southwest and west, but kept overall wind speeds light.
