Drying out in the West this weekend, but another storm arrives early next week
March will be going out like a lamb in the West this weekend, but the stormy weather is not done just yet, as a new storm will bring the potential for rain and mountain snow early next week.
In the meantime, there were some showers across northern California on Thursday, which led to downpours, thunderstorms and even small hail. The threat for downpours and perhaps even some thunder will shift northward into Oregon Friday, where the most likely time-frame for showers will be in the afternoon.
As the energy from this system finally slides eastward on Saturday, much of the West Coast will dry out. Sunday looks like a quiet day across much of the West as well.
This storm system will bring rounds of rain to Oregon and northern California from Monday into Tuesday.
Snow levels will fall once again, down to around 5,000-6,000 feet in the Oregon Cascades, the central and northern Sierra and the Siskiyous.
If the upper-level low is as potent as the GFS has been indicating, there could be a prolonged period of snow in these areas, down to pass level in some spots. This could lead to yet another round of travel issues with a few more feet of snow not out of the question in the highest spots in the central and northern Sierra. The European has been a little more strung out with the upper-level feature, which may not lead to as prolonged of a precipitation event as the GFS is indicating.
The cold air aloft could once again lead to downpours and isolated thunderstorms with small hail.
With the storm forecast to come ashore in northern California, that would keep much of southern California dry through much of next week.
After the early-week system, there may be a brief break before another storm approaches late next week.
Beyond that, general troughiness out west will lead to the continuation of unsettled weather into the second week of April. By then, it may be focused more in the Pacific Northwest, which is typical for this time of year.
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