It is March. Seasonal Change is Here. Sunny This Week. Wet The Next. Or Something Else.

Some lingering clouds along the coast and in the valley today.  Tomorrow should be a beauty, with sun and temperatures near 70 around the Bay Area, and pushing 75 in Santa Cruz.  With that warm March sun, it may actually begin to feel hot tomorrow.  Following, we should see mostly fair weather, and some cooling and the threat of mostly light showers late Thursday and again on Saturday.  Get it while it is good, as the teleconnections are mostly neutral and the MJO active - we may stay in this on again/ off again storm pattern for a few more weeks.

The Sierra have returned to their usual snowiness.  This past storm dropped from one to two feet at the resorts, and a bit more up along the crest.  Snow began late Saturday and continued into the day on Monday.  At Kirkwood, it snowed steadily until 8PM on Monday night.  This morning started out wonderfully with just a few wispy clouds, but by 11AM a solid grey pea soup had moved in to the area.  This last round of snow was a bit heavier than what we received a few weeks ago.  Great water content and it spackled onto everything.  More should be on the way soon, but the resorts are in good shape for a long season.  Expect mostly sun and warmth on Wednesday.  Some wind and clouds fill in on Thursday, with a slight chance for rain and high elevation snow. Clearing for the weekend - most likely.

The storm approaching the coast for Thursday should stay mostly to our north.  It will usher in cold air, as we see high temperatures drop about 10F from Wednesday.  Marin and points north may see some light showers, but the rest of the bay should be spared.  Even cooler on Friday and the rest of the week, but skies should be partly clear.  Saturday's storm is looking to stay well north of us, but an east shift in the off shore high brings a system down across our area for late Sunday and Monday.  This one could bring significant rain, some wind and lower elevation snow.  We will need to monitor.

This is looking like a great spring for growing.  We are not likely to have another freeze this winter, so you may want to begin to think about getting some hardier plants in the ground.  This is a good time to get some beans in the ground, especially if you like to start from seed.  With night time lows around 40-45F, these seedlings should grow just fine.  With some warmer days and much warmer sun expected in the coming weeks, you may even want to think about getting some tomatoes in the ground.  I know a farmer that swears by getting them out by March 1st.  Others claim April 1st.  I like to split the difference by getting some going and keeping my back up plan in pots inside.  That way I win no matter what.  Our  winter garden is looking great.  The broccoli and Brussels we put in during the January heat spell are looking great.  The fava and peas weathered the last storm.  The garlic is looking awesome.

Currently, the long term looks like we are in this wet and dry spell for a while.  This current week we see three storms moving through.  The first hit us, the second and third most likely will veer north.  Next week, we again see three systems coming into the coast.  Currently, it looks like the first will hit us, the second brush us and the third ram us.  But the models are fickle this time of the year, and we can really only look a few days ahead for reliable models.  That said, the models look to have a storm headed out way every 2-3 days through at least March 25th.  Winter is not over yet, and for that we should be happy.  We still are in desperate need of water.  But it has been good to us, with the the snowpack at about 125% of average according to the March report.  Ski resorts are reporting 100% plus of annual average snow fall, and reservoirs are filling up.  Still, we need more.  Pray for rain.

A nice day tomorrow.  Wear something light; it will feel like spring tomorrow.  Cooler Thursday with more clouds and a slight chance of showers, mainly north and late in the day.  Clearing for Friday with even cooler temps (60F) and again on Saturday.  Some breezes for Saturday and another unlikely chance for rain.  Sunday begins nice, then clouds up and chance of rain increases through the day.  Monday should be wet.