WEATHER SUMMARY FOR SOUTHERN OREGON AND NORTHERN CALIFORNIA We are watching a system slide down towards us from out of the Gulf of Alaska this morning. This system is going to be generating rain and snow for the entire area, but it looks like Oregon will see the bulk of what arrives. Snow levels will be about 3000 feet on this one so not a valley floor snow event....yet. That will come later on Monday. Todays system will give a modest amount of rain to the valleys west of the Cascades, but it will be a s snow maker for sure. And this is why we have the winter weather advisory. Impacts for holiday travel are expected for the passes through the Cascades, and likely for I 5 in the Siskiyous. The worst of this is going to be up around Crater Lake and Diamond Lake. They could see 6 - 10 inches of new snow there, and that would be likely to get chain requirements up for Highways 62, 230, and 138. Highway 140 looks likely for 4 - 6 inches of snow. Highway 66 and I 5 in the Siskiyous look like they will get 2 - 4 inches of snow. For winter recreationalists.....Diamond Lake will see 6 inches at lake level, Crater Lake National Park looks to see 10 inches, and Mt. Ashland should be 2 - 5 inches of new snow. Areas of east of the Cascades like Klamath Falls and Lakeview should see a couple of inches. This system will depart and cold air will fill in behind it, and then right on top of that a second weaker system arrives on Monday. This is the one that looks to put snow on the valley floors at this point as snow levels will drop to 1000 feet or so on Monday afternoon. This is not going to be a big accumulation of snow like last December was. But, what we get is likely to stay around as things get VERY chilly behind the passage of this system. Lets get back to the snow expected with this one. Right now it looks like 4 inches would be the most for the mountains. So the valleys should be seeing a dusting. Less than inch for sure. But enough to whiten things up and get roads slick. As I said, things will be very chilly with our highs on Monday in the upper 30s for Medford, followed by mid 30s on Tuesday. Over at the coast, you can expect freezing conditions to arrive so be ready for that. East of the Cascades, readings below zero may pop up. Once that system goes through on Monday through Monday night, a ridge builds in. That of course means fog with freezing fog in the mornings as we close 2014 and welcome 2015. The data is showing this morning that we are looking to see a system come into the area for the first weekend of 2015. This ought to give travelers reason for concern. This one looks to produce enough snow in the mountains to cause headaches for the final weekend of holiday travel.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 17:31:54 +0000
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