Western U.S. Weather Blog

Share |

No Big Storms, But Pesky Cold Ones Likely

Mar 8, 2010; 1:21 PM ET

This will be a week with no big rain and snowstorms for California, the interior Great Basin or Southwest. However, there will be a couple of pesky cold storms that bring precipitation and some problems. Meanwhile, the Northwest will have three separate storms bringing rain and Sierra snow through Friday, especially from the Cascades on west.

Two cold inside sliders move through the Southwest states this week. The first is occurring now and is located on the northern California coast. It can be seen in this visible satellite picture as swirl of clouds.

This cold system will drop southeast tonight and tomorrow moving into northern Arizona tomorrow afternoon and night. As the low moves southeast, it will bring rain and snow showers along its path with rather low snow levels. Snow levels in the Sierra tonight and tomorrow morning will be in the 2,000- to 2,500-foot level. In Southern California, snow levels will drop to 3,500 feet. Not a lot of snow will fall above the snow level, but enough to give small accumulations on non-paved surfaces and produce slippery roads.

Precipitation in Utah and much of northern Arizona will be in the form of snow as snow levels will be 4,000 to 5,000 feet from north to south. The mountains could get 3 to 6 inches of snow above 6,000 feet, with a slushy coating in the valleys. Only the lowest valleys of Utah will have rain showers. Also, rain showers are likely in the lower deserts of Arizona.

A second storm will bring rain and snow into the Northwest tomorrow night and Wednesday. Energy from that storm will break off and head southeast as well, bringing some light rain and snow to parts of California with even lower snow levels than our first inside slider. Precipitation will then spread into Utah by Wednesday into Wednesday night.

The good news for the Southwest is that sunnier, milder weather will take over Thursday and Friday. In the Northwest, another storm will move off the Pacific later Thursday into Friday in two separate bursts.

The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of AccuWeather, Inc. or AccuWeather.com

Comments

Comments left here should adhere to the AccuWeather.com Community Guidelines. Profanity, personal attacks, and spam will not be tolerated.

More Ken Clark

  • Nothing Big This Week

    May 7, 2012; 12:29 PM ET

    For the rest of the week there will not be anything drastic going on in the West.

  • Lake Mead Water Levels Dropping

    Apr 27, 2012; 12:40 PM ET

    Despite a late-season surge in precipitation across a large part of the West, Lake Mead is still expected to experience noticeably lower levels

  • Another Late-Season Storm at Midweek

    Apr 23, 2012; 12:28 PM ET

    A combination of two separate storms will bring much of the West a round of wet, cool weather for Wednesday into Thursday.

  • Huge Temperature Gradient

    Apr 20, 2012; 12:36 PM ET

    Most coastal areas are only in the low to mid 60s but it warms to the 80s in the eastern coastal cities and the 90s in the valleys.

  • Summerlike Weather by Weeks End

    Apr 16, 2012; 12:45 PM ET

    This ridge will likely bring well above-normal temperatures by Friday into the weekend for areas away from the Pacific waters.

  • Two California Late-Season Storms

    Apr 10, 2012; 12:36 PM ET

    some welcomed rainfall levels of between 1/2 to 1 inch over central California with nearly the same amounts around the Los Angeles Basin.

  • Storms Return Next Week

    Apr 6, 2012; 12:42 PM ET

    In fact what is so scary about this long range forecast is how much the models agree.

About This Blog

Ken Clark
Ken Clark's Western U.S. weather blog tackles daily weather events with commentary from one of the most experienced and trusted Western U.S. weather experts.

AccuWeather.com Bloggers

5/23/2012 8:48:43 AM /blog-entry.asp 5 .75.116 (accuweather)-- [new]