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Thoughts on the Friday/Weekend Storm

Mar 3, 2010; 1:12 PM ET

As another storm is moving through northern and central California now, and will then move into the Great Basin later tonight and tomorrow with its rain and snow, thoughts now turn to what the next storm will bring.

The next storm is another northern Pacific storm that will break off from the west-east jet stream and charge southeast toward Southern California. The early afternoon enhanced IR satellite picture shows this storm out around 45N and 153W.

The models have not been in very good agreement on the timing of the storm. I am sure that is a great surprise to many (heavy sarcasm warning in effect). This is the kind of storm that moves in more NNW to SSE than west to east as the it first closes off well offshore, then moves southeast. This storm is going to be almost an exclusive Southwest precipitation-producer, skipping the Northwest.

Rain and snow will gradually develop Friday and Friday night across California, and as the upper-level low moves inland Saturday across the southern third of California, thunderstorms could occur as well. If you remember, we had a similar event last Saturday. The greatest amount of rain with this storm looks to be in the southern third of California. Snow levels will be low, dropping down to 4,000 feet or so, and that is below pass level.

The storm should end in California for Sunday, will be moving through Utah and Arizona that day. This should bring rather low snow levels in these areas as well.

I will have more details on all this tomorrow.

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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.