This week was wet at times though it did begin fairly quiet as High pressure kept the bulk of the storminess to our north. Eventually a couple wet systems pushed through our region bringing 2.64" of rain and up to 2ft of new snow to the ski resorts. None of these systems were exceedingly wet or cold, but fortunately were slow movers and brought us plenty of rain. We need 2-3 storms weekly through March to catch up and eventually exceed our normal rain year. There's been a lot of talk lately of El Niño already fizzling out. Well that's just not true. While we have yet to see the truly soaking El Niño rains, the heating of the ocean waters has not diminished and winter has not officially began. All the signs are there. Much of the country east of the Mississippi is much warmer and drier than normal while the west coast has been active and wet since October. Give it time. You'll soon be amazed.

Weekly Forecast:
The coming week will be a wet one as a parade of storms will keep pouring into NorCal. Rain will be developing today on Sunday as a weak system pushes inland today mostly affecting the north coast. A better chance of rain and mtn snow arrives on Monday with an extended period of rain as a moist plume of moisture slams the coast. 1-2" of rain will be possible during this period in Nevada City/Grass Valley. We get a break on Wednesday as the coldest in this series of storms arrives on Thursday. This system will be colder and may lower the snow levels into the upper foothills on Christmas day, but forecast models are now puling back on the strength of this system and the general speed and trajectory and push this system through rather quickly with only one wave of moisture before we dry out after Christmas. I really doubt snow levels will fall below 3000ft, but I'm keeping an eye on the potential for snow in Nevada City/Grass Valley just in case.

*Statewide Sierra snow pack is at around 83% of normal for this date!

Weekly Rain and Snow for Nevada City

Rainfall so far Today
0.08"

Rainfall This Week
2.64"

Rainfall This Month
6.46"

Rain in Nevada City since July 1st 2015
12.31"

Snowfall in Nevada City so far this season
1"

El Niño update:
It's here! and soon we will have the start of an epic wet weather event to be talked about for years. Climatologists say we are just in the beginning phases of one the strongest El Niños on record. During strong El Niños, the subtropical jet stream that brings wet storms to southern Mexico and Central America moves northward, creating a constant flow of storms over Southern California. Only exceptionally strong El Niños are powerful enough to shift the entire jet stream to cover Northern California, giving the southern California double its rainfall and Northern California double the Sierra snowpack if not more, Those severe El Niños last hit in 1982-83 and 1997-98. The latest update by the CPC is growing confident that the coming El Niño is looking to match or exceed the 1997-98 event.

The latest weekly El Niño indices are listed below. El Niño is HERE! Conditions are present and it will last into early spring 2016.

Current Pacific Ocean Temps Above Normal

Niñ0 4 region
+1.7°C

Niño 3.4 region
+2.8°C

Niño 3 region
+2.9°C

Niño 1+2 regions
+2.3°C

December - February Precipitation and Temperature Outlook. WET AND MILD!

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