Winter visits Central California this week.

Cold, breezy and wet.  That about sums it up for the first half of this week.  Santa Cruz was spared rain for the most part yesterday.  We did get a little in the very early morning hours of Monday.  Then a ring of clouds formed leaving a whole of sun over Santa Cruz.  Heavy clouds stayed to our south, impacting the Monterey and Big Sur areas.  The real brunt of the storm slipped over the entire coast range zone and slammed into the West Slope.  Cold air, combined with good orographic lift and some moisture dumped over 6 inches around the lake.  Kirkwood reported 16" totals this morning, and Mt. Rose, benefiting from some lake effect received two feet of new snow.  If you are out and about this week, be careful.  Under all that blower are the rocks, stumps, logs and such that were starting to get exposed during last weeks warm spell.

Chair 6 and Wagonwheel Bowl at low tide.  Kirkwood.  Heading toward a fuller tide by the weekend.

Today, Tuesday is looking a bit more placid.  A layer of clouds sits along the coast, but the sun could have a chance of peaking out today.  So says the forecasts, but looking at that sky, we could see rain before noon today.  And it will remain cold with a high in the mid 50s.  Up in the Sierra, cold, clouds and very light flurries will be the name of the game, with perhaps a few glimpses at the sun.  The real news if for Wednesday and Thursday.  The storms for mid week have been upgraded with each run of the models.  You begin to wonder if they are over stating.  But it now looks like the the air will not really warm up all that much, so these storms continue to be cold.  What is impressive is the water amounts forecasted.  Around the Bay Area we are expecting about an inch of rain from late tonight through Thursday afternoon.  On Wednesday the rain will be the heaviest and most consistent.  on the north coast and in the Tahoe area, we are expecting about 2.5 inches of precipitaion.  With temperatures at night in the teens and in the low twenties during the day, that will mean two to four feet of new snow. My guess is we have over 50 inches of new snow since Sunday along the crest by Friday morning.  That is a good week by any years standard.  An excellent week by this years.

Sierra Crest, looking west toward an approaching storm.  It is about time these rocks get a snowy blanket.

And the news just keeps on getting better.  Friday things begin to clear up.  Sun and mid 60s for Friday with 70 expected in Santa Cruz by Sunday.  That will be the peak of it, with mid 60s and a few clouds starting off the next week.  So, for you fair weathered skiers, or just the weekend warrior, you can expect sunny skies and 45F at 7000 feet.  Sure, temperatures that warm in late February are not that awesome for the snow, but you will be starting off with some very light density skier packed powder.  Should be pretty darn good in the resorts, and in great condition on northerly slopes in the BC.  Be sure to check out the Sierra Avalanche Center advisory for more details on the snow pack.

A break today.  Continues cold through Thursday.  Heavy rain on Wednesday.  Lighter, but still moderate rain starts off Thursday morning and breaks up by the afternoon.  Clouds clear.  Friday will warm up a bit.  Very nice for the weekend.  Sunshine and 70F.  A bit cooler, but fair to start next week.