Less than a year ago we were being warned that our water supply was in danger because the near future negative effects of global warming would bring rain not snow to the Sierra's ...I haven't heard anything like that from the global warming crowd lately.
Los Angeles (read what Dallas Raines is reading right now)_
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
FXUS66 KLOX 050605 AFDLOX SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOS ANGELES/OXNARD CA 1000 PM PST TUE JAN 4 2005
.SHORT TERM...A FEW LINGERING SHOWERS WERE NOTED OVER PORTIONS OF THE COASTAL WATERS THIS EVENING...ALONG WITH THE CENTRAL COAST AND COASTAL L.A. COUNTY. A FEW SHOWERS WILL PERSIST OVERNIGHT HERE AND THERE... OTHERWISE DRY WEATHER WILL PREVAIL OVERNIGHT ALONG WITH PARTLY TO MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES AT TIMES.
A BROAD W TO NW FLOW ALOFT WILL PREVAIL OVER THE DISTRICT WED THRU THU. IN ADDITION AN UPPER LOW AND PACIFIC STORM FRONT WILL BE APPROACHING THE CENTRAL COAST ON THU. WITH A COOL AND MOIST AIRMASS LINGERING OVER THE DISTRICT...IT LOOKS LIKE A FEW SHOWERS WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER THE REGION THRU WED NITE. THE CHANCES OF RAIN IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE ALONG THE CENTRAL COAST THU...ALTHO THE ETA IS A BIT SLOWER WITH THIS SYSTEM AND THE RAIN MAY NOT ARRIVE THERE UNTIL LATE WED OR WED EVENING. THE PACIFIC FRONT IS FORECAST TO MOVE INTO THE CENTRAL COAST THU NITE AND PUSH THRU L.A./VTU COUNTIES FRI MORNING. THE MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW GOOD SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST FLOW AHEAD OF THE FRONT....WITH WINDS UP TO 50 KT AT 850 MB. ETA CROSS SECTIONS ALONG THE COAST SHOW THE WINDS MORE OUT OF THE SE OR EVEN ESE OVER VTU/L.A. COUNTIES WHICH REALLY IS NOT THE MOST FAVORABLE WIND DIRECTION FOR OROGRAPHIC ENHANCEMENT OF RAINFALL. THE GFS WIND FIELD IS MORE OUT OF THE SOUTH. EVEN A COMPROMISE SOLUTION WILL PROVIDE FOR DECENT ENHANCED RAINFALL POTENTIAL ON THE SOUTH SLOPES. WITH THE SOUTHERLY FLOW WITH THE GFS SNOW LEVELS INCREASE TO 6000 TO 7000 FEET THU NITE...WHILE THE ETA IS COLDER...STILL AROUND 5000 FEET OR SO. IT LOOKS LIKE SW CA IS IN FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF HEAVY RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW THU THRU FRI. PRELIMINARY ESTIMATES ARE FOR 1 TO 3 INCHES FOR THE COAST AND VALLEYS...AND 2 TO 5 INCHES IN THE MOUNTAINS EXCEPT FOR LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS ON FAVORED S FACING SLOPES. FOR THE MOUNTAINS 1 TO 3 FEET OF SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS AT AND ABOVE RESORT LEVELS. THE STRONG AND GUSTY WIND FIELD WILL ALSO BRING THE POSSIBILITY OF WHITEOUT CONDITIONS OVER THE HIGHER MOUNTAIN ELEVATIONS THU NITE INTO FRI. FLOODING ALONG WITH MUD AND DEBRIS FLOWS WILL ALSO BE A CONCERN AS THE ALREADY SATURATED GROUND WILL RESULT IN PLENTY OF RUNOFF. ALREADY ISSUED A SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT ON THIS UPCOMING STORM. PLEASE SEE THE PRODUCT LAXSPSLOX AND OUR WEB SITE AT WWW.WEATHER.GOV/LOSANGELES FOR FURTHER DETAILS. .LONG TERM...THE GFS FORECASTS A BROAD W TO SW FLOW ALOFT OVER SRN CA SAT AND SUN. SEVERAL TROFS EMBEDDED IN THE FLOW ARE EXPECTED TO IMPACT THE DISTRICT WITH THE CHANCES OF MORE RAIN OVER THE WEEKEND. IT LOOKS LIKE SNOW LEVELS WILL BE HIGHER SAT THEN COME DOWN SOME SUN AS HEIGHTS/THICKNESSES LOWER SOME. TEMPS OVER THE WEEKEND WILL CONTINUE TO BE BELOW NORMAL ACROSS THE REGION.