Summary:

Nice weather today with increasing clouds and winds this afternoon.  Tonight into Tuesday we will see some light snow.  We clear out for Wednesday and Thursday before we could see more snow Friday into the weekend.

Details:

Clouds are already moving onshore this morning ahead of the cold front that will push snow into the basin tonight into Tuesday.  The winds will pick up this afternoon and will be gusty on the mountains into Tuesday.  This system does not have that much precip.  The European model has the most qpf with up to 6 inches possible along the crest.  More likely that we will see a coating at lake level before sunrise and a few inches on the mountains through Tuesday.  Temperatures will only be in the 30's.

Wednesday the ridge shifts closer to the coast and the storm track shifts to our North.  That doesn't last long as the jet stream and cold trough dig further South into CA by Friday.  This system has more precip associated with it.  The snowfall isn't expected to be significant for Winter standards, but could be for late April standards.  The latest model runs show 6-9 inches on the mountains across the basin with up to a foot or more West of the lake along the crest. 

The models are still split on what happens with the 2nd system next weekend.  The GFS continues to show the ridge building in and the system going to our North.  The European and Canadian runs show the 2nd system bringing several more inches of snow to the mountains.  Going with the majority for now and thinking that Friday through Sunday is a snowy period.  Still a few ski resorts that will open that you can get in some fresh tracks.

Long-Range:

The climate models show that we could see some moisture around the first week of May, but with warmer temps.  The long-range of the GFS shows a dry and warm pattern after next weekend.

Stay tuned....BA