Projected Precipitation for Mariposa 1.00" - 1.50"
Projected Precipitation for Oakhurst 1.00" - 1.50"
Projected Precipitation for Yosemite Valley 1.50" - 2.00"
December 24, 2021 - The National Weather Service Hanford Office reports a cold storm system will move into the region Saturday afternoon into Sunday morning with snow levels dropping to 2000 feet.
Snow will drop down into the foothill communities Saturday night into Sunday morning.
Locally heavy snow is expected overnight Saturday.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Hanford CA 149 PM PST Fri Dec 24 2021 .SYNOPSIS...A very wet weather pattern will continue through the holiday weekend with brief breaks as several weather disturbances move into and across the Central California Interior. Heavy mountain snow and significant lower elevation rain will occur through the middle of next week. && .DISCUSSION... We are in the midst of another semi-break in action for the central California Interior. As with all of the expected breaks we still expect a threat of showers for many locations but on the whole the precipitation will be very light. Once the breaks end then the light to moderate precipitation commences. Todays break will continue through tomorrow late morning/early afternoon and then chances for precipitation greatly increases once again. This parade of precipitation is all caused by a seasonably semi- permanent high setting up over the Pacific Ocean just southwest of the Gulf of Alaska and the mid-latitude energy in the northern hemisphere pushes up and over the ridging and drops southward on the eastern periphery of the high into the SW Conus. This actually looks to continue into the New Year. So in the long term expect breaks in the precipitation followed by more activity. As for the next several days a colder system will move into the region beginning tomorrow late afternoon and into Sunday. Snow levels will drop from the current 6,000 to 7,000 foot heights down to 4,000 to 3,500 feet by Saturday (Christmas) evening and then down to 2,500 to 2,000 feet by early Sunday morning. The colder temperatures will be associated with another batch of precipitation Saturday evening into Sunday morning so the threat of foothill snowfall will be present. A Winter Storm Watch is currently in effect for the Sierra foothills and the Kern County Mountains until Monday morning to bring attention to this fact. As far as the passes are concerned the Walker and the Tehachapi Passes will have the greatest chances of seeing snowfall. There is a 44 percent chance of 1 inch or greater snowfall for Tehachapi on Saturday evening into Sunday morning. Meanwhile, the snow levels will be a bit higher for the Tejon Pass area (Grapevine) to around 3,500 feet and the precipitation amounts will be less leaving about a 25 percent chance of a trace of snowfall on the Grapevine pass by Sunday morning. Again keep in mind that traffic levels could be higher due to the Holidays and even a trace of snowfall on the Grapevine could cause slowdowns. Snowfall on any of the passes is sure to at the very least slow things down but road closures could occur, so before traveling do yourself a favor and call our CalTrans friends` road condition hotline at 1-800-927-7623 and potentially save you from being stuck in traffic or turning around to use another route. Another brief break is expected Sunday afternoon through Sunday evening when another cold system begins to enter the northern parts of the CWA and will move southward through Monday night. Snow levels look to drop to 2,000 to 1,500 feet increasing chances of low elevation snowfall. However, by the time this happens most of the precipitation chances will be minimal. But, if some of the precipitation hangs around longer and gets as cold as expected a few flakes could fall on the lowest foothill locations...dare I say higher valley locations. That is a very big BUT, and at this time does not look likely, however confidence either way is very low at this time so will need to closely monitor this situation. With this setup though Grapevine, Tehachapi, and Walker passes could see a bit better chances of snow on Monday night into Tuesday morning again potentially hampering travels on the roadways. The high desert areas of Kern County look to possibly get a dusting of snow in this Monday night to Tuesday morning timeframe. As if this all was not enough the active unsettled pattern looks to continue through the remainder of next week, and again as alluded to earlier, could continue into the New Year. && .AVIATION...MVFR conditions are likely in and near showers over the next 24 hours. Mountain obscurations with areas of IFR conditions are expected in the Sierra Nevada through at least the next 24 hours. && .AIR QUALITY ISSUES... None.
Source: NWS
