Rain and Mountain Snow Thursday Evening

• Cloudy Start, Isolated Sprinkles Far Eastern Fringe of Area
• Breezy and Warmer day as clouds clear
  • Highs in the mid-50s
  • Wind SW 5-10; G20
• Rain/Mountain Snow Thursday Evening
  • 1-3″ above 3500′
  • 2-4″ above 5000′
  • Up to .25″ of rainfall for everyone else
• Colder to start the weekend
  • Highs in the mid-40s
  • Lows in the mid to upper 20s

An upper-level disturbance off the coast is trying to bring a couple of showers into the far eastern fringe of the region this morning. This is also what’s responsible for the increase in clouds overnight which has kept temps a bit warmer in the mid-30s to start the morning off for areas outside of the mountains. This disturbance will move away from the coast through the morning, clearing the clouds, and allowing temps to warm into the mid-50s this afternoon. It will be breezy with winds out of the southwest 5-10 mph and gusts up to 20 mph possible. Patchy fog will develop late tonight with lows falling to the mid-30s.

A cold front will bring showers and mountain snow Thursday evening, but any wet or wintry weather will clear by daybreak. Elevations above 3500′ will see 1-3″ with areas above 5000′ receiving 2-4″ of snow through early Friday. Rainfall totals will be less than .25″ for the rest of the area. Icy spots will be possible Friday morning as temps fall below freezing overnight.

It will be a chilly start to the weekend with highs only reaching the mid-40s Friday and Saturday. Our next cold front will move through Sunday. Temps will warm into the low 50s ahead of this system. As of now, looks to be a straight rain event, even for the mountains with 1/2″ – 1″ of rainfall expected through Monday morning. But, we could see this changeover to a wintry mix for the higher elevations making for an icy start for Monday morning travel above 3500′. As with every winter weather system, it will need to be watched over the next few days, so stay tuned for updates on any changes.