"California stays in an active, on-and-off storm cycle through Tuesday night, with a small New Year's Day round followed by a much stronger, windier weekend storm that stacks up significant Sierra snowfall and then tapers into lighter leftovers early next week. Snow levels generally start on the higher side at the onset of each wave, then trend lower with time, so snow quality improves after the initial dense rounds; the extended outlook keeps the overall pattern on the stormy side into the Jan 6-10 window before trending closer to seasonal precipitation in the Jan 8-14 period."
"New Year's Day Wave (Wed night-Thu night) brings mainly high-elevation snow with improving snow levels through the day. This first round is modest but helpful for the higher terrain, with snow levels dropping from roughly the 8,000+ foot neighborhood early toward about 6,500 to 7,000 feet by later Thursday, favoring upper-mountain accumulation while lower bases flirt with mixed precipitation at times. Snow quality starts out dense (SLRs generally around 6-9:1 in many spots), but trends toward more moderate snow by Thursday night (often closer to 10-13:1). Totals are on the lighter side, generally a few inches, with Mammoth and Kirkwood doing best in this early window. Winds are noticeable, especially on exposed ridgelines, but the bigger wind impacts arrive with the weekend system."
California will remain in an active storm pattern through early January with an on-and-off sequence of systems. A modest New Year's Day wave will mainly impact high elevations, with snow levels falling from about 8,000+ feet to roughly 6,500–7,000 feet and totals generally a few inches; initial snow will be dense before moderating. A stronger weekend storm will bring widespread Sierra snow, strong winds, and a gradual drop in snow levels toward about 4,600–5,000 feet, improving snow quality later in the event. The pattern stays stormier into Jan 6–10 then trends closer to seasonal precipitation in the Jan 8–14 window.
Read at SnowBrains
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