Marine Weather and Tide Forecast for Kirkwood, CA

DISCUSSION

A couple more days of warm, springtime weather are in store with daytime highs near 60 and 70s degrees. Latest radar obs reveal that showers are developing within a maturing cumulus field in Lassen and N Washoe County. This area may even see a stray thunderstorm this afternoon before the loss of daytime heating after sunset. Otherwise, dry weather prevails until Friday.

A considerable pattern change begins Friday as a compact upper low traverses the western states, ushering in a period of cooler, stormy weather area-wide over the weekend. Mountain snow and valley rain showers, thunderstorms, gusty winds, and abnormally cool temperatures are among the likely outcomes Friday through Sunday, although not one impact seems to be particularly significant.

Disruptions to travel in and across the Sierra, and perhaps foothills communities such as Virginia City, will likely serve as the greatest impact as snow levels fall from 7000+ feet to near 5000 feet between Friday and Saturday mornings. Snow begins as early as Friday morning, but it appears that a bulk of the snow will fall Friday night into Saturday with lingering snow showers on Sunday. Snow totals have trended up in latest blended guidance, particularly in the Sierra south of US-50 and higher terrain near the Lyon, Mineral, Mono county intersection where there is a 50-80% of 3-6” along highest peaks between Friday and Sunday. Up to a couple inches is conceivable Saturday morning for lower Sierra communities and along Sierra passes (especially Sonora and Tioga passes), which may result in minor slick roads and travel delays. It’s doubtful that travel impacts will be significant and prolonged with the intense sun angle and antecedent warm roadways.

Lower western Nevada valleys will likely see periods of light rain with totals up to 0.2” between Friday and Sunday. Locally heavier rain is possible if/where thunderstorms develop Friday and Saturday afternoons. Saturday afternoon features the best chances of thunderstorms (15-25%), especially along and south of the I-80 corridor. Potential thunderstorm impacts include brief downpours/ice pellets, gusty outflows, and occasional lightning.
Friday will be the windiest day as most areas have at least a 30% chance of wind gusts exceeding 40 mph. Breezy winds continue over the weekend, so plan on the typical wind impacts to aviation and recreational activities. This weekend will also be much cooler as daytime highs are favored to be in the 40s and 50s, followed by chilly nighttime temperatures in the upper teens to 30s. Hard freezes are possible over the weekend so be sure to protect sensitive vegetation.

A warming and drying trend occurs early next week as the upper low departs the region. We’ll warm back up to seasonal averages by Tuesday with some showers and thunderstorms possible each afternoon.

-Salas

AVIATION

Widespread VFR conditions and breezy afternoon winds (gusts of 20-25 kts) will prevail today and Thursday. Periods of MVFR/IFR conditions, LLWS and mountain wave turbulence, and thunderstorms are possible Friday into the weekend.

-Salas

REV Watches/Warnings/Advisories
NV...None.
CA...None.