Incline Village Culture Weekend Weather Update 3/3/2011
March 3, 2011
This weekend is shaping up to be a warm and wet one for the Tahoe Basin.
Another 6 inches of wet, sloppy snow fell overnight here at 7000 feet on the north side of the Basin, and more snow is on the way. But the snowfall will be tapering off this morning and total accumulations are likely to remain under a foot in most places below 8000 feet, with 12 to 18 inches total possible at the highest elevations.
More warm, wet weather is on tap for the weekend.
A moist subtropical system is moving toward California now and is forecast to cross the Sierra Saturday night and Sunday. Snow levels are likely to be above 7000 feet when the system arrives, and we could see widespread rain in the populated parts of the Tahoe region.
The front end of this storm will be tapping moisture that stretches from the Sierra to Hawaii. But a cold low pressure system from the Gulf of Alaska is also moving toward California and will reach us sometime Sunday. The timing of the merger of the two systems will dictate how much rain we get versus snow. The sooner the cold low arrives, the better chance we will have of getting some snow accumulations at lower elevations before all the moisture moves east. Where it does snow for the duration of the storm, this system has the potential to dump another one to two feet of new snow by the time it wraps up Monday.
Either way, the rain and snow should be clearing out by Monday, and Tuesday looks fair and dry. The long term outlook is for a return to the colder storms we've saw during the last two weeks of February.
Temperature forecasts:
Tahoe City:
Thursday 40
Friday 47
Saturday 49
Sunday 45
At 7000 feet:
Thursday 38
Friday 45
Saturday 49
Sunday 47
MONTHLY WEATHER ALMANAC FOR FEBRUARY
Low: -9 on Feb. 20
Average temp: 24.2
Departure from norm: -7.4
Precipitation: 5.19
Normal precip for the entire month: 5.30
Percent of normal for the month: 98%
Total snowfall: 63 inches
Low: -15 on Feb. 26
Average temp: 27.3
Departure from norm: -2.4
Precipitation (water content): 2.32
Normal precip for the month: 4.83 inches
Percent of normal for the entire month: 48 %
Total snowfall: 41.2 inches
