Chilly Unsettled period setting up for the Sierra next week……A real oppertunity to break 875 inch snowfall record on top of Mammoth Mt…..A Record that is little chatted about but Monumental….

by Howard

April 30, 2023

Heights are falling, cooling is occurring in the coastal cities of Northern CA and breezy weather has returned. Being that the Sun angle is now mid-August like, surface convection will occur wherever possible, except over snow cover. The closed low developing off the coast will create massive upper divergence over Eastern California. QPF indicated by the CRFC shows up to 1.40 over Yosemite during mid week. Freezing levels in the 5K to 7K range. Precipitation will be mostly convective and TSRW will produce the best amounts. Would love to see current 875 inch snowfall record amount over top of Mammoth Mt broken with possible 900 inches in sight. You never know as it could happen. In the meantime, the heavy spring thaw weather will take a back seat as colder temps will slow down the melt. Highs some days mid week will cool to the low 40s with lows in the 20s. Best days and nights for precip will be Tuesday through Friday. Hope Mammoth Mt keeps tabs on the snowfall on the upper Mt to see if a 900 inch record occurs by weeks end. Next long range seasonal weather concern will be related to El Nino. El Nino’s can be tricky. Big El Nino’s are not always wet in California as they need to be “Full Basin” Will this be full basin warm El Nino? That will be up to the experts to verify.

I wrote about this several months ago , a normal event year after year we will have a few late season systems , I recall 10 inches on June 19 one year and another year about 12 inches on June 10, many years the holiday at the end of May , Monday we would have snow I think about 15-20 years in a row.

So like I am going to sey a record we tell the person , tell us when you set it not before.

The weather person before Howard was a long time friend, we lived and worked together , he had a history of the OV weather and would recite numbers I think sometimes before time , he grew up in Bishop and after a period in LA moved back up and worked for the County. When one of the BIG storms would be forecast he would rant for days and after if nothing happened would rant for more days why it didn't.