Meteorologists say a powerful coastal system fueled by a so-called "bomb cyclone" could move toward the Northeast this weekend, bringing anything from a light dusting to a full-on sequel to January's snow chaos . The system is expected to travel across the country before strengthening off the Carolina coast on Sunday, potentially delivering snow and gusty winds to the tri-state area into Monday.
The storm system is currently moving along the coast of Canada. Whether the system strengthens into a powerful coastal storm along the Northeast shoreline, or slides harmlessly out to sea, depends on several factors, including its track and the availability of cold air from Canada. While some snow appears to be the most likely outcome, all scenarios remain on the table, from a complete miss that tracks out to sea, to a major nor'easter, according to the FOX Forecast Center.
Fresh snow arrives across the western Alps tonight and continues into Friday, then a much stormier pattern takes over from Tuesday into next weekend. Snow levels through the first wave hover around 1,200 to 1,500 meters, so upper mountain terrain stays all snow while the lowest villages can see mixed precipitation. Snow quality with this first system looks mostly moderate, with SLRs commonly in the 10-14:1 range and pockets of lighter snow in higher terrain.
It's turned into an unusually dry winter for Northern California, and that pattern, thanks to a ridge of high pressure, is going to continue for at least the first 10 days of February. As the Chronicle meteorology team tells us, the dry and balmy conditions will be with us through Super Bowl Weekend and beyond, continuing a pattern that has left the Sierra snowpack mighty low.
