Cold and Snowy.

Yup, here in Santa Cruz it is freezing.  Temps across town are in the low 30s.  King and Van Ness, along with many other locations are registering 32F.  Right out on West Cliff, and on the Wharf, resigns are 35F.  That is chilly folks.  Low 30s and upper 20s in the Santa Cruz Mountains.  And there is snow up there above 1500 feet.  If you did not so yesterday, get down to the water and have a look around the bay.  There are snow caped mountains all around us.  My Ununhum, at just under 3600 feet is caked with snow.  We never had a view of Junipero Serra in good light, but at almost 6000 feet must have gotten a good sparkling of snow on its top half.  It is game on for skiing with views of the Pacific, if you don't mind a bunch of bushwhacking.

Today will be mostly clear and crisp. A touch warmer than yesterday which barely climbed to 50F.  Looks like another cold night ahead of us.  Repeat on Thursday, and then on Friday, we see another cold storm moving in from the north.  This really feels like winter.  Snow levels will be a bit higher than the end of this last storm; more like Sunday night, at about 3000 feet.  That would mean some more snow for the higher peaks in our region.  As it looks now, we should see just clouds moving in Friday morning, with rain holding off until later in the afternoon.  This is not a big rain maker, maybe a quarter inch overnight.  Saturday also looks wet, as does the weekend.  Showers both days, with moderate rain expected to return Sunday evening.  About an inch total of rain through mid day Monday.  There is a lot of changing in the models from run to run, but it looks like we should see a break next week, for at least a few days, before more rain moves in.  This is turning out to be an excellent February for water and snow.  DeLaveaga is currently at 3.77 inches just 5 days into the month; nearly half as much that we received in all of the previous month.  And more is on the way.

In the Sierra, five to nine feet snow was recorded at the resorts.  They are digging out.  Much of that snow fell at very low temperatures and is super low density.  With the continued cold this week and weekend, we can expect for some of the best riding of the season.  Today should be gangbusters with resorts getting more terrain open.  It may take until tomorrow to get all the roads, passes and ski lifts in Tahoe open, up and running.  This was a massive storm up there.  With snow coming for the weekend, please be prepared if you plan to drive in the Sierra.  As it stands now, Sunday could be another stormy day, with pass closures by afternoon.  Plan accordingly.

And finally, surf has been cleaning up front he storms.  We have a bunch of wind swell out there, and a bit of ground swell.  While it might not actually get organized until later in the week, with more storms coming, there is a short window to get out there.  Town is looking fairly lined up this morning, but swamped with the higher tide.  Still, the view should be great out there, with snow capped peaks looking down on you.  Get out there and get some.