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Hydrometeorological Discussion
National Weather Service / California Nevada RFC / Sacramento CA
830 AM PDT Tue Apr 30 2024

...LIGHT PRECIP POSSIBLE OVER FAR NORTH INTO THURSDAY AS SYSTEMS 
BRUSH BY TO THE NORTH...

...PRECIP POSSIBLE LATER FRIDAY INTO THE WEEKEND BUT UNCERTAINTY IN 
DETAILS ESPECIALLY THE SRN EXTENT OF PRECIP...  

.METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS (TUE AM - MON AM)...

Upper level ridge over the Central Eastern Pacific (centered around 
150W) with a trough over the NW U.S.. A disturbance moving into the 
Pac NW this morning then digging into the Great Basin tonight into 
Wednesday morning and another disturbance entering the Pac NW 
Wednesday night and into the Great Basin Thursday.  These 
disturbances will brush by the far north portion of the region for 
periods of light precip possible over the Srn OR Cascades and far NW 
CA coast and Nrn NV today through Thursday.  Precip amounts expected 
to be generally around a tenth of an inch or less each day but up to 
around a quarter of an inch possible over the Srn OR Cascades and 
Wednesday and Thursday. Freezing levels generally around 3000-5000 
ft over Srn OR and far NW CA and around 5500-7500 ft over Nrn NV 
today rising to around 7000 ft and higher Wednesday afternoon and 
dropping to around 5500 ft over Srn OR Cascades on Thursday morning.

Weak ridging over the region early Friday in between systems as the 
trough over Nrn Great Basin shifts to the east and an upper level 
low pressure system approaches the NW Coast.  There is model and 
ensemble member variability with the timing track and strength of 
this system for lower confidence in precip amounts and areas 
(especially the southern extent of precip) and timing for late 
Friday into the weekend. The det 06Z GFS is farther south with the 
low off the Nrn CA coast Saturday morning and moving through Central 
CA and into Srn NV Sunday. The det 00z EC has the low off the Pac NW 
coast Saturday morning and brings it inland through the Pac NW and 
Nrn CA Saturday afternoon into Sunday. The 24 hr QPF 50th percentile 
clusters ending 00Z Sunday show a range of solutions from cluster 3 
22% of members (Canadian 5% and GFS 17% and EC 32%) showing only 
light precip over NW CA coast and Srn OR Cascades to Cluster 4 21% 
of the members (canadian 35%, GFS 20% and EC 16%) to precip spread 
across Srn OR and Nrn CA and even into the South Bay Area with 
amount up 1-2 inches along the Nrn CA coast and 0.75-1.5 inches for 
the Shasta Basin and Nrn Sierra and Srn OR Cascades.  The forecast 
mainly uses a combination of the NBM and WPC for Friday into the 
weekend. Precip may start as early as Friday afternoon over the NW 
CA coast and Srn OR Cascades and increase and spread south and east 
into Nrn NV and possibly Central CA Friday night into Saturday. 
Precip tapers off Saturday night into Sunday. Highest precip amounts 
(around 1-1.75 inches) expected over the NW CA coast and Srn OR 
Cascades and Nrn Sierra.  Freezing levels will vary with the exact 
track of the low and are currently forecast to drop to 3000-5000 ft 
over Nrn CA Saturday and around 5000-7000 ft over Central CA and Nrn 
NV Saturday night and rising on Sunday.