A multi-week “parade of storms” over the Pacific Ocean featuring a persistent atmospheric river pattern and numerous winter storms pounding the U.S. west coast has resulted in record snowpack in the Sierra Nevadas with water equivalency at 205% of normal for mid-January in the northern Sierras, 255% central, and... Read More

A sequence of GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm), Day Cloud Phase Distinction RGB and Day Snow-Fog RGB images (above) showed widespread fog/stratus across parts of Montana, North/South Dakota and Minnesota during the day on 06 January 2023. With a quasi-stationary area of high pressure located over that area (surface analyses), winds remained light and the fog/stratus layer was slow... Read More

GOES-16 (GOES-East) Mid-level Water Vapor (6.9 µm) images with an overlay of GLM Flash Extent Density (above) covered part of a widespread winter storm event — which included thundersnow in parts of Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota and Minnesota — that occurred on 03 January 2023. Areas that reported thundersnow experienced convectively-enhanced snowfall rates... Read More

A classic winter weather pattern developed over the Pacific Ocean this week setting the stage for significant drought relief for the western U.S., along with heavy to excessive coastal rains and mountain snow measured in feet for the Sierras and Rockies. Even though this is a “classic” winter pattern, it... Read More