Cool, wet, and white on the mountains is the forecast for the weekend.  Not a great weekend for outdoor activities.  

It has been cold and wet over the past week.  We have seen several systems drop snow on the mountains.  The only 2 ski resorts open in Tahoe going into the weekend are Squaw and Heavenly.  They have seen 19-33 inches of snow on the upper mountain so far this month, mostly over the last 7 days.

That is more snow than they saw in April.  Mammoth may surpass December's snowfall!  Squaw and Mammoth are tied for snowfall, so it's a tight contest to see who will end up the winner.  Both are open into July.  Maybe we see more snow in June?  We have a shot at several more inches this weekend to deal with first.

The Weekend:

The trough over the West has kept moisture and instability over the area with showers popping up, mainly in the afternoons. 

That will continue into Saturday.  Snow levels for Friday are above 9,000 feet and may lower closer to 8,000 feet under any heavier showers for Saturday.  The winds look fairly light on the mountains.  Highs into the 50's at lake level and 40's in the upper elevations.

Sunday is the day to watch.  A cold low-pressure system will drop down through CA from the north Saturday night into Sunday night.  That could bring some steadier precipitation and colder air.  The latest model runs show up to an inch of total precipitation possible by Monday morning.

Snow levels could lower to near 7,000 feet by Sunday morning and hover there through the day.  Possibly even lowering to 6,500 feet under heavier showers as the core of the low moves through.  That means we could see accumulating snow on the mountains for Sunday into Sunday night above 7,000 feet.

With the high sun angle, I wouldn't worry too much about snow on the roads.  There could be brief chain controls at night early Sunday morning or Sunday night if we see heavier showers under dark skies.

At the ski resorts or if you are out hiking in the mountains, we could see several inches of snow accumulate.  Based on the latest model runs we could see 3-6 inches of snow on the mountains above 7,000 feet.  Under the heavier bands of snow above 8,000 feet, we could see up to 9 inches reported by Monday morning.  So be prepared for cold and snow conditions in the mountains.  Winds don't look that strong with gusts up to 40 mph up high.  The highs dip on Sunday into the 30's on the mountains and 40's at lake level.  

For Memorial Day, we could continue the showery weather as the trough hangs back over the West.  The temperatures warm back into the 40's and 50's with snow levels rising back above 8,000 feet.

Long-Range:

The showery weather pattern could continue with a better chance for clear skies in the mornings and showers in the afternoons through the end of next week.  Highs should continue to warm next week with temperatures into the 50's in the upper elevations and 60's at lake level.  The snow levels should also rise above 9,000 feet for any showers.

Here is a look at the 10-day total precipitation forecast from the GFS model showing a wet 10 day period ahead.

High pressure may finally build in over the West Coast going into June.  Hopefully, we will start to dry out and see temperatures warm so we can get summer started.  The good news if you like skiing is that all of this snow in May will help the conditions at Squaw and Mammoth as they try to stay open through the 4th of July weekend.

Stay tuned...BA

P.S.  Good news, we launched the OpenSummit.com website yesterday!  You can now access the high elevation forecasts for mountains around CA and the U.S. for hiking if you don't have the iPhone app already.  The Android app will also be launching very soon. 

The OpenSnow app is pulling the mid-mountain forecast at each ski resort, so this app is very helpful in pulling the high elevation peak forecasts for the mountains.  These are forecasts based on actual mountains and not ski resorts and are based around high elevation hiking.  There are also articles on hiking tips.  Here is a good one about the new site.  https://opensnow.com/news/post/introducing-opensummit-com

Enjoy!  We are continuing to develop more weather tools, thank you for your support!

Ski Resorts Still Operating:

Squaw - Open 7-days a week through Memorial Day 8 AM - 2 PM, then open weekends (Fri - Mon 8 AM - 2 PM) through 7/6.

Heavenly - Re-opening one last time for Memorial Day Weekend. Fri - Mon 9 AM - 4 PM.