Storm Totals

There's a classic saying about March. It's often, March roars in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. I don't think is quite true this year, as this final storm in March has delivered our biggest 24 hour snowfall totals since late February. March roared in like a lion and has very much roared out like one too. We now have at least our 3rd biggest March on record with 185 inches. The seasonal total is up to 695 inches! So yes, indeed we have beaten 2010 - 2011 for snowiest season on record. Not only have we beaten it we are almost 30 inches ahead of it and we still have 2 months to go to see accumulating snowfall. To be fair, in some really big years we've seen snowfall in June as well. 

I do believe we will finally reach the coveted 700 inch club for snowfall in one season! It could happen as early as the next 5 - 7 day period. A few other landmarks we've reached is that we now have the snowiest January - March on record. And, because we've blown past 2011's season we now have more snow than any January - May on record. A this point, none of this is all that surprising given that we have had a record breaking season. 

Wednesday & Thursday Snow Showers

Boy did this storm deliver. Definitely came in strong and came in over my forecast already. An impressive display of orographic precipitation, with plenty of cold air provided excellent conditions to exceed my expectations. 

The sun is peaking out through the clouds and will continue today. We could see a few snow showers pop up later in the afternoon. Temps will stay cold in the teens and 20's. Winds are still gusty out of the West Southwest up to 50 MPH on the summit. They should calm later in the day by the afternoon, but I wouldn't expect the upper mtn. to open till tomorrow at this point. 

We could see an additional 1 - 3 inches by tomorrow, Thursday morning. 

On Thursday we should see more sun than snow, but the chance to see some snow showers in the afternoon is still there. Temps will rise a little into the 20's, but overall stay on the colder side. Winds should also be much calmer than this morning. Gusts only up to 25 MPH out of the Northwest. The low spinning off the coast currently will likely push through by the end of the day ending our chances for snow by the evening. 

Friday - Sunday Sunny

We went back on forth on whether or not we could see snow over the weekend. It's looking pretty unlikely at this point. That could change over the next 2 days but right now I'm going for it and sayin git should be a pretty sunny and pleasant weekend. Highs on Friday will warm into the low 30's at the bases and by Saturday we could see mid 30's. Sunday we could start to see some cooling as the next system approaches. 

Winds should remain lighter on Friday with 25 MPH gusts out of the Southwest. Saturday winds over the summit increase out of the West Southwest up to 40 MPH. As the next system approaches on Sunday we could see 50 MPH winds on the summit and even closer to 70 MPH by late in the afternoon. Upper mtn. lift closures are certainly possible on Sunday 

Sunday Night

Sunday evening the next storm begins to roll in and by Monday morning we could see several inches of accumulation. I'm not going to get into too many details for this one yet since it's on the outside edge of the 5 day window. The details can change but all I can say is that this could be the storm that pushes us over the 700 inch mark! 

Next week continues to look cold and unsettled. There's a good chane we could see snowfall between Monday, April 3rd and Wednesday the 5th. Amounts do not look impressive though as we could be picking up an inch or so each day through passing snow showers. 

The models are at odds as to what happens as the end of the 1st week of April. The Euro wants to bring in a significant storm, while the GFS is not so keen on it. Since this is more than a week out I have little confidence in really either scenario. As is often the case the 2 opposing scenarios will likely trend towards each other and meet somewhere in the middle. We'll just have to see how things play out. 

Till the next one... Mike out. 

Fresh Tracks!

Pixie & The Partygrass Boys join the show to promote the WinterWonderGrass Festival at Palisades Tahoe from 3/31-4/2! We look at the insane snowfall totals on the updated Top 10 Snowfall List. Plus all of the Snowfall Reports and Forecasts for the Western ski regions.

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