A weak brush-by storm tonight into tomorrow. Then another potentially wet system arrives for this weekend into early next week. Snow levels start high, then could fall late. See below map for Saturday afternoon:
Overall, snow amounts may still be healthy, but they will be far greater above 9000 feet where a much larger proportion of the storm will be snow rather than rain.
Most mountain areas saw 1-2" of water equivalent over the past two days. High elevations got some snow. But, as expected, we lacked the cold air necessary for any noteworthy accumulation down low.
We have another storm coming in over the next few days with high-elevation snow. I know it's still October, but what I have seen so far this month does not comfort me. I'm traumatized by the warmth of last winter. I just want a nice, cold pattern. El Niño may not cooperate.
The forecasted precipitation anomalies for the next 15 days are very El Niño-like across the West. Coincidence? Or a harbinger of what's to come this winter...? I guess we will find out.
Some intriguing signals are already showing up along the West Coast for the end of October. This will be interesting to watch, because if this were to verify, it could mean an active early-season period for Sierra Nevada, and perhaps extending to Utah.
Will the new snow melt off? Hard to say for sure, but my guess is that most of the snow below 9000 ft and on exposed south- and west-facing slopes will melt off. However, I don't think the snow will melt off on the north-facing, shady slopes above 9000ft.
Sometimes 6 inches looks bigger than other times. Deer Valley’s new snow stake platform is so broad that, to me, 6 inches looks like a lot less than that on first glance. It’s going to take some getting used to.
