Snow Returns

The recent drought ended today as light precipitation moved in over the area as a Pacific front crosses the area (see sat pic). With the system there will be some light snow in the mountains (see model forecast)--snow that is desperately needed to freshen up the base. As shown in the accompanying figure, the snowpack has fallen well below normal at many mountain sites.
The weather will dry out over the weekend, with temperatures reaching the upper 40s.

Now some of you have asked about snow in the lowlands. The latest extended run suggests the potential for low-elevation snow on Tuesday (see figure) ...but I wouldn't get too excited yet, since the forecasts that far out have varied substantially in subsequent forecasts. It does appear certain will substantially cool later this weekend into early next week.