A Break Today. Cold Storm For Friday. Heavy Rain in LA by Monday.

Yup, it is still winter out there, in case you were wondering.  The solstice is still a few days away.  Who can wait for spring?  Models suggest continued wet pattern through month's end.

Tahoe picked up a few feet of snow in the last 48 hours and several feet of snow above 7000 feet so far this week.  Today we see a break in the weather and a chance for the resorts to dig out and open up some lifts.  By tomorrow morning, clouds and snow will again return to the region.  This next system is much much colder than Sunday's and Tuesday where snow levels were up as high as 8000 feet.  Yesterday's system was a bit cooler with snow down and below the lake.  Tomorrow, we can expect to see snow start out at about 5000 feet, lowering to below 3000 feet by Saturday morning.  Several feet of cold smoke is on the way.  The storm looks to clear a bit on Saturday and Sunday, before another system scrapes the region on its way to northern Mexico.  Yup, it is still winter here.

Here in the bay we also can expect another break in the rain today.  Friday morning should see mostly clouds and some light rain, with heavy rain filling in soon after.  We are looking at 1-2" of rain in the region.  Combined with some morning high tides and large swells, we may see some flooding in low lying areas along the coast and in the delta.  Use caution and never drive over a submerged road.  Heavy rain continues through the day and evening on Friday, heaviest in the afternoon.  Chance of showery wether on Saturday and more likely on Sunday.  Rain again on Sunday night into Monday.  All in all, it looks pretty wet.  And much cooler, with daily highs dipping to the mid 50s by Saturday.  A slight rebound is expected early to mid week.  More rain through the end of the week.

But it is not all doom and gloom.  Strawberries are here.  I doubt they will last long, as most near ripe berries were picked yesterday with the impending rain.  The rain normally damages ripe fruit, so farmers like to get that picked before the storms.  Yet, the combination of wet warm weather mixed with some sun has brought on the season.  So, while winter is still here, spring is certainly a knocking.  And you know that that means - get out there and begin work on your garden.  Planting of summer stocks is just around the corner.  You should already have your tomatoes started inside if you plan to plant from seed.  If not, check out Love Apple Farm's guarantee.  Success or your (twice) your money back.  Not a bad deal.  Still, the bottom line is to begin thinking and working on your summer gardens.  Now is the time to start.  Don't wait until May.

The high sea advisory is still in effect.  The swells begin to move in last night and have really filled in this morning.  The biggest waves are fairly inconsistent and there is a lot of raw local swell on top of it. If you find the right spots, the surf could be really good this morning, but expect south winds to change that by afternoon.  Even is the surfing is not great, the viewing (from a safe vantage point) should be great.  Use caution when approaching the water over the next few days.  Wave subside through the day today, but remain large through Saturday.  Then they will just be big after that.


So, wet, wet, wet for the next week.  A break today.  Perhaps one on Saturday and sometime mid next week.  Some suggest a change in the pattern around the beginning of April.  We will monitor and keep you informed.