After a mild and relatively calm Tuesday, a stronger winter storm system is lined up to arrive late Wednesday through Thursday, kicking off a Winter Weather Advisory in the mountains and a valley Wind advisory. The storm front arrives late in the day Wednesday, bringing some valley winds which could gust over 50 mph, and some mountain snow. There will be significant shadowing in the valley, so it’s not likely we will see much if any rain here before sunset. Cold air moves in early Thursday morning dropping snow levels to the valley floor, although continued shadowing will limit valley snow to small accumulations mostly on the west side.

For the mountains, total snow amounts could range from a few inches at the Lake itself to a foot or more on the crests of the Sierra. Travel over the passes will be challenging starting late Wednesday afternoon with high winds and poor visibility coming with the snow accumulation.

By Friday, conditions will clear out and the weekend looks to be dry with temperatures rising from Thursday’s low 40s to the mid-50s by Sunday.