Respectable late-season storm will bring widespread CA rain this weekend; local SoCal flood risk possible Today’s blog update will be a relatively quick one, but I wanted to get at least a quick post up since it does appear that the present active and cool pattern will start to wind down after this weekend’s more … Colder system will bring widespread CA rain this weekend, with modest flood risk SoCal Read More » The post Colder system will bring widespread CA rain this weekend, with modest flood risk SoCal first appeared on Weather West ..read more

Brief reality check: a quick look at the season thus far Winter 2023-2024 has turned out to be an eventful one despite a pretty slow start in December. Overall conditions have been substantially warmer than average across essentially all of CA, with some parts of the San Joaquin Valley seeing winter temperatures approaching seasonal records. … Cold storms headed for CA, including rare blizzard conditions in Sierra Nevada Fri-Sat Read More » The post Cold storms headed for CA, including rare blizzard conditions in Sierra Nevada Fri-Sat appeared first on Weather West ..read more

Early Feb NorCal wind and SoCal rain events were historically significant February started out with a remarkable pair of Pineapple Express-type atmospheric river storms, each of which brought substantial impacts, but the second of the pair ultimately generated extreme wind gusts in parts of Northern California and historic rainfall in portions of Southern California. Wind … Additional storms to bring renewed flood risk to parts of CA Read More » The post Additional storms to bring renewed flood risk to parts of CA appeared first on Weather West ..read more

Explosively developing low pressure system will bring rain/wind starting this evening This will be a short blog post since I was not initially planning on writing another one focused on the present storm sequence–but on rare occasions I’ll write a short-fused Weather West piece if the severity of an upcoming event justifies it. After checking … Rapidly strengthening Pacific storm to bring damaging windstorm to Central California, major flash flood risk to SoCal, and a big Sierra snowstorm Read More » The post Rapidly strengthening Pacific storm to bring damaging windstorm to Central California ..read more

Record warmth this week will suddenly give way to pair of major storms Well, I’ll keep this section short since there’s a lot to talk about! But most of California and indeed much of western North America has been experiencing record mid-winter warmth since the weekend–and although it’s hardly the only time California has seen … Pair of major “Pineapple Express”-type atmospheric rivers to affect California Wed-Mon; elevated flood and wind risk (especially from storm #2) Read More » The post Pair of major “Pineapple Express”-type atmospheric rivers to affect California Wed-Mon; elevated flood a ..read more

Record-warm December in parts of California (and much of the U.S.), with abysmal Sierra Nevada snowpack, despite record downpours on Central Coast December was an extraordinarily warm month globally and nationally (the warmest December on record both globally and generally across the United States). All of California experienced a much warmer than average month, and … Stronger cold storm this weekend in NorCal, then warmer and quieter weather to follow. Plus: seasonal outlook and El Niño update… Read More » The post Stronger cold storm this weekend in NorCal, then warmer and quieter weather to ..read more

A warm and dry November for the Western U.S., but recent record warm soakings in the PacNW If you were in California this autumn, you probably already noticed: this fall was unusually warm and dry nearly everywhere in the state (and, indeed, across most of the Western U.S.!). Despite that, given unusual summer rainfall thanks … After frustrating false starts, strong indications of a major Pacific jet extension & active pattern by late Dec Read More » The post After frustrating false starts, strong indications of a major Pacific jet extension & active pattern by late Dec appeared first ..read more

A pretty benign autumn weather pattern in CA (so far) As far as autumns go, 2023 has been mercifully calm from a weather and wildfire perspective across California. Although there several periods of elevated fire weather conditions, and while a couple of modest-sized fires in SoCal did occur (unfortunately burning several structures), September and October … Major early-season storm to affect CA by mid-Nov; Plus, new thoughts on implications of still-strengthening El Niño for CA winter Read More ..read more

Note: This special Weather West article focuses on new peer-reviewed scientific research, recently published in the journal Communications Earth and Environment, that I led with the help of a team of collaborators from UC Merced, UC Berkeley, The Nature Conservancy, and Washington State University. What is prescribed fire, anyway? The American West, as well as many … Climate change is narrowing and shifting prescribed fire windows in the western United States Read More ..read more

A mercifully mild summer (with a couple of major exceptions!) Well, Summer 2023 was a pretty remarkable one across California and the Western U.S.–but for rather different reasons than in recent seasons. Consistent with the long-term warming of the West, this summer was much warmer than the 20th century average in most places–especially in the … Fall-like weather pattern for CA as El Niño continues to strengthen; Odds of a second consecutive wet winter rise (though with caveats!) Read More ..read more