We have yet another weekend with a cool trough digging into the Pacific NW.

That will bring us cooler air, breezy winds, and a chance for rain showers this weekend. Friday clouds will start to stream into northern CA.

We will see partly sunny/cloudy skies with highs into the 60s at lake level and 50s on the mountains. Ridgetop winds gusting from the southwest up to 40+ mph by afternoon. Lake Tahoe winds gusting up to 20+ mph during the afternoon.

Saturday into Sunday we have a chance for rain showers as a couple of waves move through to our north. Most of the moisture looks to stay to our north, but we could see a few scattered showers both days. The best chance for steady showers is the farther north you go. Here is a look at the total precipitation forecast for the weekend.

Snow levels are above 10,000 ft. so we should see all rain on most mountains. Between clouds and showers, we could see some breaks of sun. Highs into the 50s to near 60 at lake level, 50s for the mountains, and 40s for the higher elevations above 9k. Ridgetop winds gusting up to 60+ mph from the southwest both days. Lake Tahoe winds gusting up to 20+ mph during the afternoons.

Next Week:

By Monday the trough shifts east and high pressure is beginning to build in over CA. We should have a dry week with mostly sunny skies and warming temperatures. The winds will be lighter as well. Highs into the 60s at lake level to start the week, 70s by midweek, and 80s by the end of the week.

High pressure could be pretty strong over CA by the weekend of the 11th-12th which should bring highs into the 80s at the lake with and late spring heatwave as we get ready to roll into the summer season.

That will be welcome after a fairly cool and unsettled spring, that followed a dry winter. Much more rain & snow fell in April-May than in January-March. For example, the Snow Lab near Donner Summit only saw around 5 inches of precipitation Jan-Mar but picked up around 11 inches Apr-May. For Snowfall, they picked up only 43 inches Jan-Mar and then 87 inches Apr-May.

The coldest air was in the Pacific NW and the northern Rockies during Apr-May where some areas saw the coldest or a top 5 coldest Apr-May. We were closer to average but saw several cool troughs with rain and snow and cooler air with a lack of prolonged heatwaves so far, but that changes next week.

I'll continue to post weekly updates for the weekend forecasts for both the mountains and lake weather through the summer.

Stay tuned...BA

P.S. We have been working hard on new features since the ski season ended, and will continue to work hard to bring you more features all summer. This week we launched a 5-day Air Quality Index forecast map!

That combined with our smoke maps will help you to plan your weekend adventures in the mountains during the summer. We will have more fire/summer weather features coming out soon. To learn more about our air quality and other maps you can read this article...

NEW: Global Air Quality Forecast Map | OpenSnow

...and you should be using the "Maps" page on our site and app, along with all of the other features! Be sure to explore the entire site/app as we continue to add more features, and share with your friends! We appreciate all of your support over the last 12 years. We look forward to many more with you! BA