We have a cold front with rain arriving later today and it will continue showery conditions through late Wednesday. We could see amounts between half an inch to 1 inch. That will help get our average monthly rainfall fairly close to normal. I say that because Thanksgiving looks dry and so does Black Friday.
In fact, with the next 10 days I don’t see much of anything heading our way as I look at the longer-range forecast models. Pretty mundane weather; high pressure dominates with only weak weather systems breaking through. This time of the year, a pattern such as this brings inversions and foggy nights lingering into the daylight hours, like we had a couple days last week.
The ski areas will pick upward of a foot of snow with this last round of heavy fronts. Good thing they have enough of a base to open the slopes. I believe Timberline opens Wednesday and Meadows on Monday. As we dry out somewhat in a few days, little new snow accumulations are on tap unless the weather pattern does an abrupt change.
The first day of winter begins for us weather and climate folks one week from today, on Dec. 1. From that date until mid-February generally finds us experiencing the coldest weather of the year. Arctic outbreaks, snow and ice occur during this time period and can last for days.