Forecast By SnowBrains Cheif Meteorologist – Eric McNamee

3:10 pm MST, 10/17/2021

Forecast Summary:

A quick-moving storm will bring 2-8″ of snow to the Sierra Sunday night and into Monday.

Snow will initially start Sunday evening and continue through the night before tapering off Monday morning.

Snow levels will be around 5,000-5,500 feet, with the highest amounts near Lassen Peak.

A short break is expected Tuesday, but more precipitation is expected this week.

An active pattern looks to continue in the long term.

Short-Term Forecast:

A quick-moving storm will bring 2-8″ of snow to the Sierra Sunday night and into Monday.

Snow will begin Sunday evening as the main band of precipitation associated with this trough continues to move onshore.

Snow will fill in across the higher terrain during the night and continue through Monday morning.

Snow levels will hover around 5,000-5,500 feet during the night as temperatures will be relatively warm.

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for elevations above 5,000 feet in anticipation of this.

By Monday morning, most precipitation will taper off as the trough moves off to the east.

Conditions will remain dry through Tuesday.

Another system looks to move into the state Wednesday but looks to be warm and primarily bring rain.

A couple more storms will move into California next weekend.

The storms look to be moisture-rich, so if the airmass associated with them is cold, we could see some decent snowfall.

Global ensembles are indicating above-average precipitation across the region in the extended.