Updated 9/27/2011

Sept. 29, 2011     

Now that fall is here, winter is right around the corner. Perhaps even next week.

After a cooler and windy but still mild weekend, the first winter-like storm of the season will be on Tahoe's front porch by Monday. A series of low-pressure systems moving through Northern California will bring a chance of rain and, later in the week, snow to the Tahoe Basin.

For this weekend, look for temperatures to drop back toward normal with gusty afternoon winds and a chance of thunderstorms, especially Friday and Saturday, and more likely south of Tahoe.

Sunday and Monday will be transition days, as the summer-fall thunderstorm pattern gives way to a more winter-like storm coming to us from the north Pacific and the Gulf of Alaska. A Pacific trough of low pressure is forecast to set up off the coast of California by Tuesday, bringing cooler temperatures to the Sierra, with rain possible in the Northern mountains and perhaps a few showers as far south as Tahoe.

The most powerful in this series of storms is due on Wednesday. This storm is expected to be laden with moisture and following a trajectory toward the mountains that will make for favorable precipitation conditions. The forecast is suggesting that two inches of rain at Blue Canyon on Interstate 80 is a reasonable possibility, with snow levels starting out near 8000 feet before dropping to around 7000 feet late in the storm, either Wednesday night or Thursday morning.

Most of the precipitation might move east before the blast of northern air drops temperatures low enough for snow, but there is still a good chance we could see accumulations around the highway passes and even lower on Wednesday night or Thursday.

Stay tuned to http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=zxkgftcab&et=1107888896552&s=4469&e=001b1UTNgdMhep4iayCPHduHegKTywNBeHb3wQcgoqNUKnwr0X_p4xysc1Lk7bBFoeN_3GqATOc9lUaOBA4o5DEfBn_s-znfhaShgHyoaa5xZ8IUT2ujxi3XQ== for updates as these storms approach.

 
Temperature forecasts:

Tahoe City:

Thursday 74
Friday 70
Saturday 67
Sunday 65

7000 feet

Thursday 67
Friday 63
Saturday 56
Sunday 52