El Nino has not stopped giving. March is about to start off with a bang. Especially in California.
Early this morning the Sacramento office of the National Weather Service issued a “Special Weather Statement” about the upcoming atmospheric change starting Friday, and continuing well into next week–and hopefully for God-knows-how-long.
The gist of it was:
A SERIES OF WET STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE THROUGH NORTHERN CALIFORNIA LATE FRIDAY INTO NEXT WEEK. ALTHOUGH SPECIFICS ABOUT TIMING AND PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS ARE UNCERTAIN THIS FAR OUT...IT APPEARS PERIODS OF SIGNIFICANT RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW ARE LIKELY.
At the time of writing, the live map shows something is indeed starting just a couple hundred miles offshore:
The surf forecast is right in line with those predictions, where already sizeable surf will double to the 30-35 foot range Friday in parts of California. After that the swell will stick around for well into the week, but the question will be the wind direction. If the models are correct, we can expect some serious onshore winds ushering in a storm cycle that will hammer western North America with precipitation.
Luckily the models also predict a cold front to start the party off right, and so all who worship snow should make their necessary arrangements to clear their schedule and eat their Wheaties for next week. While at this stage the forecaster’s models have disagreements on the exact location and impact of these storms, they all agree that storm’s are a comin’. Where and how much will become much more clear in the next 48 hours.
Some snow forecasters are calling for a huge storm to dump on the Sierras, which would then benefit Colorado and Utah sometime next week. Powderchasers.com went out on a serious limb calling for up to three meters: “The long range models keep an active pattern for California into late next week! 5-10 feet is realistic through the end of next week. The long term models are showing continued moisture in the 10-14 days outlooks. WOO HOO MARCH!”
Indeed, Opensnow.com also had huge storms hitting the Sierras, although they stop short of the 10-foot mark.
It could very well be one of those “Do you remember when” moments that comes up a few years down the road with your buddies. Hopefully it’ll be something you can talk about 20 years down the road. If there was ever a time to rationalize ditching any and all responsibility for a week in the mountains, this may be that shining moment. Or, you might just have to vicariously live through your bestie’s Instagram account.
