Sorry about the long delay in posting. I was out of town the past 3 weeks, which is why you had a bunch of storms of course. The season is now almost transitioned into summer with the ridge in charge & dry conditions until Sept. Over the summer there is lots of studying to do of the upcoming pattern for next winter.
Latest figures for precipitation came out on the 7th. Tahoe's snowpack is at 52% of average. April was a very dry month after a wet month in March, plus we got a lot of rain the first week of May that washed the snow away.
Total precip for April came in at 42% of normal but that number is high because they included the storm the first 4 days of May. Truckee reported only 16% of average in April with 96% of average already in May with that first storm. The only month above average this water year starting in Sept. was March, with that 6-8 foot snowstorm in the beginning of the month. Nov. & Dec. were over 80%, Jan. was 20%, March was 105%. Total on the water year beginning in Sept. is 82% of normal precip in Tahoe.
With the cold storms in December most of the resorts still saw above average snowfall on top of the mountains above 7000 ft. We still may get another rain storm before all is said & done in May which would put the month above average for precip. Back Country is in good shape above 8000 ft. with the storm last week.
Now we need to watch the ocean temps. Right now we are in neutral territory as far as the Nino's are concerned coming down out of 3 years of La Nina, which is to blame to for frequent ridges on the West Coast & below average precip the last 3 years. Coming Top-Down from La Nina to El Nino usually means above average precip in CA as the storm track aims further down the coast. Right now the outlook shows a mild el nino on tap for next season, which could mean we finally go above average. Some analoging models to the current pattern show us matching up with the winter of 1950 which was a big year. Stay tuned as more data continues to come in.....
The sun is still asleep, this is getting interesting, research it. BA
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4 comments:
Great stuff over the winter.. amazingly accurate. Thanks for keeping us weather nuts in the know. Throw us a bone now and then over the summer.
Matt (Santa Cruz)
Yep you've been awesome. How often do you think you might post over the summer?
Probably once a week thru summer. It takes time for patterns to change so I'll just be watching mostly.
Southern Hemisphere is already off to an amazing start to their ski season.
Kudos for great reporting this season. Part of my every morning reading routine. Thanks.
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