Storminess in the Northwest Stretches South

As many of you know, we at AccuWeather lost one of our very best yesterday. I knew Ken Reeves since his arrival at the office 29 years ago. I watched his career blossom and grow, and his shining star touched many in the field of meteorology because of his caring and passion for the weather and the field of meteorology in general. However, it goes far beyond than the loss of a colleague and fellow in the field of meteorology. There is the deep loss that his family, and especially his new bride of less than six months, Raychel, is having to cope with. It’s the loss of a great human being that I had the luck to call a friend. I will miss his wide smile and his special way of greeting me “well hello there, Mr. Clark” when I made my trips back east to the main office. He always had time to talk to me, no matter how busy he was. All of us at AccuWeather will miss him dearly. There is a deep sense of loss today with the whole AccuWeather family.

A series of storms will head into the Northwest again this week to spread its tentacles south into at least part of California. The first storm comes into the Northwest tonight. The second late tomorrow and tomorrow night and the third Friday and Saturday. One could argue that the last one is two separate storms but we won't bother for now. Rain and wind will accompany these storms west of the Cascades with snow in the Cascades. Snow levels will vary somewhat per each storm but stay generally at, or below, 3,500 feet. So episodes of heavy snow are likely. East of the Cascades, a more showery pattern is likely with somewhat higher snow levels.

Farther south, the first storm will bring rain and mountain snow into northern California later tonight into tomorrow with a little rain getting as far south as the I-80 corridor before stalling. The second storm will bring rain and snow all the way south through Central California Wednesday down to Pt. Conception to parts of the San Joaquin Valley and all the Sierra. The last storm will bring rain and snow this far south as well and perhaps even a littler farther south, though southern California seems likely to miss out on much of the action. Resorts in California will receive some pretty good snow before the week is done so ski season looks like it will last a little while longer.