Don’t forget to crack the ice on your dog’s water bowl before you leave the house this morning. It will be a cold, but sunny, weekend. Next week looks like it will be wet and nasty.
Here’s the weather “discussion” from the National Weather Service in Eureka:
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EUREKA CA
415 AM PST SAT FEB 26 2011
.SYNOPSIS…A COLD AIR MASS WILL REMAIN OVER THE AREA THROUGH
SUNDAY. A SERIES OF PACIFIC STORMS WILL BRING PERIODIC RAIN AND
PERHAPS STRONG WIND THROUGH MID NEXT WEEK.
&&
.DISCUSSION…PRIMARY FOCUS OF THE FORECAST TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY
WILL BE THE RECORD COLD ACROSS THE REGION. MOIST GROUNDS AND LIGHT
NORTHEAST WINDS HAVE KEPT TEMPERATURES FROM RAPIDLY FALLING…BUT
AS OF 3 AM SEVERAL SITES WERE AT 30F OR LESS ALONG THE COAST.
SEVERAL OF THE RAWS IN THE UPPER ELEVATIONS OF TRINITY HAVE DIPPED
INTO THE TEENS WITH A FEW READINGS IN THE SINGLE DIGITS. AN ARCTIC
HIGH OVER EASTERN OREGON WILL CONTINUE TO MIGRATE SOUTHWARD TODAY
AND SLOWLY MODERATE THROUGH TONIGHT.
AIR MASS ALOFT WILL WARM TONIGHT…BUT EARLY MORNING MINIMUMS ON
SUNDAY WILL MOST LIKELY DIP BELOW FREEZING ALONG THE COAST AGAIN.
RECORD LOWS WILL ONCE AGAIN BE IN JEOPARDY. ANOTHER HARD FREEZE
WARNING WILL BE NECESSARY IF TEMPERATURES FALL AS EXPECTED FOR A
DURATION OF 2 HOURS OR MORE AND CLOUDS FROM AN APPROACHING FRONT
HOLD OFF TIL MID MORNING SUNDAY.
EXPECT ICY SPOTS ON ROADS THROUGHOUT THE REGION FOR THE NEXT
COUPLE OF NIGHT/MORNINGS. SOUTHERLY WIND AND INCREASING CLOUD
COVER WILL START TO MODERATE TEMPERATURES SUNDAY NIGHT INTO
MONDAY. THE WARMING WILL BE SLOWER ACROSS THE INTERIOR ESPECIALLY
IN EASTERN TRINITY WHERE FREEZING AND SUBFREEZING TEMPS ARE LIKELY
FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS.
THE MAIN STORY FOR NEXT WEEK IS THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAIN AND
STRONG WINDS. AS USUAL THE STRONG WINDS WILL OCCUR OVER THE WATERS
AND OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS…BUT MAY EXTEND DOWN TO SEA LEVEL.
THE GFS AND ECWMF WERE IN DECENT AGREEMENT WITH BRINGING THE FIRST
WAVE OF PRECIPITATION INTO THE AREA SUNDAY NIGHT. THIS LOOKS TO BE
ON THE LIGHT SIDE BUT WILL BOOST PRECIP CHANCES NORTH OF CAPE MENDO.
STRONGER OVERRUNNING AND UPSLOPE SOUTH FLOW DEVELOPS ON MONDAY AND WE
SHOULD SEE HIGHER AMOUNTS OF PRECIP. THE EXCEPTION WILL BE AROUND
THE GREATER EUREKA AREA WHERE DOWN SLOPING FROM THE KING RANGE MAY
REDUCE PRECIP AMOUNTS INITIALLY IF WINDS GET TOO STRONG. SNOW LEVELS
SHOULD INCREASE ON MONDAY…BUT MAY STILL AFFECT PASSES ALONG HIGHWAYS
299 AND 36. COLD AND DRY AIR WEDGED IN OVER EASTERN TRINITY MAY
BRING LOCALLY LOWER SNOWFALL…DOWN TO 2KFT. STAY TUNED AS THE
DETAILS IN THE FORECAST ARE STILL SKETCHY. DJB
