While not unprecedented, it certainly is odd for the last week of June to see a weather bulletin with snow accumulation like this from NWS/NOAA. Here’s the storm system:
WWUS46 KSTO 272133
WSWSTO
URGENT – WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA
233 PM PDT MON JUN 27 2011
..UNSEASONABLY COOL AND SHOWERY WEATHER SYSTEM TUESDAY AND
WEDNESDAY.
.A VERY DYNAMIC AND COOL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM CONTINUES TO APPROACH NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FROM THE GULF OF ALASKA AND WILL MOVE OVER THE SIERRA NEVADA TUESDAY AFTERNOON INTO WEDNESDAY. THIS SYSTEM IS PROJECTED TO BRING WELL ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR ALONG WITH CHANCES OF THUNDERSTORMS.
CAZ069-280945-
/O.NEW.KSTO.WW.Y.0074.110629T0900Z-110629T2100Z/
WEST SLOPE NORTHERN SIERRA NEVADA-
233 PM PDT MON JUN 27 2011
…WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 2 AM TO 2 PM PDT
WEDNESDAY ABOVE 7000 FEET…
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SACRAMENTO HAS ISSUED A WINTER
WEATHER ADVISORY ABOVE 7000 FEET FOR SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW OVER
THE WEST SLOPE OF THE NORTHERN SIERRA NEVADA…WHICH IS IN EFFECT
FROM 2 AM TO 2 PM PDT WEDNESDAY.
* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS: UP TO 5 INCHES OF SNOWFALL OVER THE CREST TO
INCLUDE CARSON PASS ON HIGHWAY 88…EBBETTS PASS ON HIGHWAY 4
AND SONORA PASS ON HIGHWAY 108.
* ELEVATION: EXPECT SOME SNOWFALL ABOVE 7000 FEET WITH MOST
ACCUMULATION ABOVE 7500 FEET.
* TIMING: BEGINNING AFTER MIDNIGHT AND ACCUMULATING BY 3 AM PDT.
* LOCATIONS INCLUDE: CARSON PASS ON HIGHWAY 88…EBBETTS PASS ON
HIGHWAY 4 AND SONORA PASS ON HIGHWAY 108.
* WINDS: SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 45
MPH.
* IMPACTS: HIGHWAYS ARE OPEN THROUGH PASSES, SO ACCUMULATION MAY
CAUSE DELAYS.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MEANS THAT PERIODS OF SNOW AND/OR
BLOWING SNOW WILL CAUSE TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR
SLIPPERY ROADS AND LIMITED VISIBILITIES…AND USE CAUTION WHILE
DRIVING.
&&
Clearly this is due to AGW and of course no snow fall is due to AGW.
1+1=POTATO
i live in Sacramento and we had rain(and snow in the nearby mntns) in late May and early June as well and the same thing last year….and the temps last summer were so mild that tomatoes were about a month late….
i was starting to believe in global warming about 6-7 years ago when we had 3-4 years in a row of incredibly hot summers, including one stretch of almost 2 weeks of 108-110 degree high temps but since then things really seem to be cooling off in this area at least…
OH at Colorado restaurant; *Donner party of 11*, oh only 10 sorry about the wait …
It’s Interglacial Warming because a winter-type storm in summer fails to cover the entire PNW in a foot of snow clear down to sea level. What else could it be? It can’t be Interglacial Cooling, because that would lead us to…gulp!…a Little Ice Age.
In re: Rhoda Ramirez 7:06 PM I liked the “rather” as in
Dan Rather and his fixation on George W. 😉
Amino Acids in Meteorites says (June 27, 2011 at 6:59 pm): “How will global warming believers damage control this?”
Climate disuption aka climate chaos aka it’s worse than we thought aka we’re dooooooomed…again.
Thanks for the heads-up. I just checked the local weather report and saw 30% chance of showers tomorrow for Silicon Valley. Awwww maaaaaan…
Remember kids Global Warming causes more snow these days.
As the AGW alarmist like to point out, a snow alert in late June is weather.
Of course they also like to point out that one hot day proves…GLOBAL WARMING…RUN…RUN…THROW MONEY AT THE CLIMATOLOGY GODS!!!
I’m at the CalNeva at Lake Tahoe and the weather took a decided change for the winter this afternoon–windy and much cooler tonight. It would totally suck if we had to worry about chains over Donner Summit on the way home tomorrow. 🙂
Very unusual.
A rare snowstorm in June or whatever is not unprecedented, but these are not rare isolated storms coming through. It is one after another, for months on end. Two years in a row.
Roger Sowell says:
June 27, 2011 at 8:40 pm
Actually Roger this is a late season snowstorm. It has only stopped snowing, cleared, and warmed somewhat in the last two weeks…snowmelt in the high country started only 10 days ago. About 1/2 of the snowpack has melted. So there is still more snow up there than at the peak of a normal winter! Went skiing today, in fact.
Last year the progressive winter pattern lasted until the end of June…and started up again in the middle of August. It snowed here every month of the year except July.
So anyways, assuming summer will last more than the last 10 days and we get maybe a 6 week summer like last year, this is still ‘last winter’ 😉
Yeah, Robert, we already got clobbered. You should see all the weak looking corn, wheat & soybeans. Farmers in Texas and Georgia have told me that it wasn’t worth the tractor fuel for the combine. Trees pushed over and snapped.
I traveled Rangeline Road in Joplin, MO and the damage is almost unbelievable. Hmm, maybe we can make bread out of sawdust? Or stretch it out.
Roger Sowell – Not “Gore Minimum”, please. Even if meant sardonically, it may become regarded as an honour, which would be an honour most emphatically undeserved. Most around here are, I think, happy with “Eddy Minimum”, though other names have been put forward.
It’s been canceled:
URGENT – WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA
1048 PM PDT MON JUN 27 2011
CAZ069-280700- /O.CAN.KSTO.WW.Y.0074.110629T0900Z-110629T2100Z/
WEST SLOPE NORTHERN SIERRA NEVADA-
1048 PM PDT MON JUN 27 2011
…WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS CANCELLED…
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SACRAMENTO HAS CANCELLED THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THE NORTHERN SIERRA NEVADA. SNOW LEVELS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN HIGH ENOUGH OVER THE PASSES ON HIGHWAYS 88…4…AND 108 TO KEEP ANY ACCUMULATING SNOW TO A MINIMUM.
It’s still going to be unusually cold and wet for this time of year. Could be dangerous for backpackers that aren’t prepared.
WE just had the hottest day in the UK for 5 years, so it’s swings and roundabouts. France has been even hotter.
We’re going back to cooler weather now for 5 days – interesting to see if there is any inverse correlation between UK temperatures and California ones, eh?
Well, there’s another potential problem: Lightning fires.
Oh, and before I forget, a moderate Republican is just like Lyndon Johnson. We don’t need any more of those.
Thanks for stating the obvious. Now go along to the main stream media, especially those at the Guardian and BBC, and mention this little fact to them. “Snowfalls are now just a thing of the past” – it will soon be a very rare and exciting event. ;O) Lake Powell go!!!
Snow is not entirely inconsistent with global warming. Snow is a sign of a warmer climate. Less snow however can be pointed to as a sign of global warming also.
/ sarc ;O)
After our so-called ‘heatwave’…just 2 days of pleasantly warm weather, it is now cold again. I’m in Southern England. My tomatoes are still in the greenhouse…I usually put them out on the patio in early June.
I should have added that we were threatened with all the usual late-June catastrophes (especially by the rag online…the DM) of thunderstorms, large hailstones, floods and mini-tornadoes! Not seen here, slight rain is all we’ve had, and a gently veering breeze! (From SW to NW, now N as I look out).
It is just a weather.
In Germany, we are suffer a heat weave. Of course, it provides evidence of the AGW…
“Rhys Jaggar says:
June 28, 2011 at 1:16 am
WE just had the hottest day in the UK for 5 years, so it’s swings and roundabouts. France has been even hotter.”
======================================================
In a very small part of the UK, yes. For most of the UK, no.
Just remember the CAGW attribution algorithm:
if (temperature > normal) then
IT’S GLOBAL WARMING!! PLEASE TAX ME AND MAKE ME REPENT OF MY HIGH CARBON FOOTPRINT!!
elseif (temperature < normal) then
Meh. It's just weather. Anyhow it's consistent with global warming…
“It has only stopped snowing, cleared, and warmed somewhat in the last two weeks”
Hope you enjoyed your summer.
Very clear in the satellite image a huge polar high with its up-drafts locked below the Aleutians (hence the popular name Aleutian High). IPCC & Co. are ages away from understanding (admitting?) this sort of dynamics.
Best.
Rhys Jaggar says:
June 28, 2011 at 1:16 am
“WE just had the hottest day in the UK for 5 years, so it’s swings and roundabouts. France has been even hotter.”
So the temperature reached 75 degrees Fahrenheit? I am most familiar with Edinburgh and there the temperature struggles to reach 75 in August.
View from the Solent says:
June 28, 2011 at 4:28 am
“Rhys Jaggar says:
June 28, 2011 at 1:16 am
WE just had the hottest day in the UK for 5 years, so it’s swings and roundabouts. France has been even hotter.”
======================================================
In a very small part of the UK, yes. For most of the UK, no.
And the view from the Solway together with the rest of Scotland would no doubt agree with you.
2 days of 21C for the year does not a summer make.