Update 12/15/15
Polar Vortex Joins El Nino for 2015 Record Warmth
Whaaat no Snow in Buffalo yet?
Wet period in the West this weekend.
Stormy Conditions Bring Rain and Snow to the West
A series of heavy storms have brought rain and snow to the Northwest and Northern California. These are pre-El Nino storms from the Gulf of Alaska and have broken down the persistent high pressure mass that blocked storms last year, one of the driest on record.Bill Patzert a climatologist at Jet Propulsion Laboratory calls this recent storm “an atmospheric river (AR)” effect from the West. The storms are fast moving with a narrow band of moisture and not coming from the sub-tropical jet typical of El Nino.
Looking ahead NOAA predicts Above Average Precipitation over the next 6-10 days as well as strong PPT 8-14 days.
It is snowing now at Mammoth Mountain where they received 14″-36″ of snow over the past 3 days . Another 3-7 inches is expected for a good base of 42 inches at mid-mountain.
Conditions are very cold with single digit lows and high winds.
Update on 12/14