News DetailMAJOR blizzard will pummel the California Sierra Nevadas and Coastal Ranges
Posted At: January 3, 2008 @ 11:29 AM
Posted By: Reed Timmer
Related Categories: Snow
An historic blizzard will pummel parts of the Sierra Nevada and Coastal Mountain Ranges of central and northern California and Oregon over the next few days, with 3-6 FEET of snow expected and 100 mph wind gusts! The massive trough responsible for this storm can be seen in the water vapor loop below from Thursday afternoon, with an initial jet streak already producing heavy snow over the mountains of northern California and southern Oregon.
The blizzard warning statement for Dean's location from the NWS office in Medford, Oregon is shown below. He should be arriving at his hotel tonight, and is currently driving from Coos Bay, OR to Mt. Shasta. This same storm system will be moving slowly eastward across the Rockies over the next few days, and could produce a tornado outbreak Monday through Tuesday of next week as mentioned in the previous blog post. This will be a record-setting storm, so things will definitely be exciting on the blog!
A geographical perspective of the watches and warnings associated with this system can be seen below, with the blizzard warnings shaded in black. Dean Schoeneck of TornadoVideos.net will be documenting this storm from a hotel in Mount Shasta, which lies at around 4000 feet above sea level in the mountains of Northern California. Dean is expecting to be located at ground zero for this blizzard, and will likely be trapped at his hotel for days! He'll continuously be adding video updates to the blog from his location, so stay tuned!
The blizzard warning statement for Dean's location from the NWS office in Medford, Oregon is shown below. He should be arriving at his hotel tonight, and is currently driving from Coos Bay, OR to Mt. Shasta. This same storm system will be moving slowly eastward across the Rockies over the next few days, and could produce a tornado outbreak Monday through Tuesday of next week as mentioned in the previous blog post. This will be a record-setting storm, so things will definitely be exciting on the blog!
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There will also be a "Storm Train" affecting the Socal areas..Thunderstorms are possible, maybe severe..I wish we were getting this kinda stuff..
All in all good news for the west coast in large parts. Now the melt with all the burn areas won't be good in the summer but after some bad ski seasons this insures they will skiing in May in some parts. Looks like rain for us in Ohio for this system, which could cause some flooding. This lake event has given me around 4.2in of snow and more in some places.
Good luck in that hotel bud, and stay safe.
Wish I could trade that weather and get some snow here myself. We're having this weird burst of heat. The change in temperature overnight was INSANE!!! It went from -39 with the windchill tuesday night, to -4 last night!! and right now its 0! (Normal for this time if year should be -11). So crazy....snow is actually MELTING
WOW that's a huge low preasher! that have at least 800 MB!
MY SITE IS DONE!!
pretty kool site caleb i like the video of the minco tornado on may 3rd
finally jim leonard a youtube get to see some of his tornado stuff and i have dvd of his stuff when i first found tornadovideos.net before the blogging and stuff
Justin what was it like? when was it founded?
same thing i only found out about it like i think a year or 2 ago they just used to have a whole selection of videos where you can buy and i was looking for may 3rd and found his and then site changed became to this
yeah I found it last year in april. I was bord and there was a severe weather event going on so I looked fo live storm chase tracker and then I found this site! and i'me glad!
yea me to cause finally some people i can talk weather with because my friends don't care as much just want know wat our weather would be like
I found this site like a year ago. One day, I was bored and was looking for tornado videos, so I just googled "tornado videos" and It popped up with "tornadovideos.net" so I clicked on it, and loved it! I watched all his videos, and then realized that they are the people who were on tornado glory that was aired on PBS a while back. Now I'm on this site daily, making cool friends, and enjoying all the stuff on here. Keep up the great work Reed!
yea keep up the good work i still haven't seen tornado glory i want to see it
yeah That's sorta what i did the first time zack I didn't know thay had a blog. I looked up tornado videos. then I found Tornadovideos.net It's awsome There is so many memories! keep it up Reed,Joel,Jason,Dean!PS i think it was founded in 2003
Yeah, it's a great show Justin. Really raw footage!
By the way, nice site Caleb. You did a good job lol :P
yea here idk how to put it video but it is so cold here i was just walkin from my car to school and my hands got numb
This blizzard better be on the national news.
I want to know if Dean is taking Spam or Vienna Sausages.
:D
LOL justin ai'me still on christmas brake...
Justin, you have to see Tornado Glory, I had to special order my copy at Borders it took over a week to get. It really makes you appreicate the work that Reed, Joel and the whole T.V.NET team does! Of course it is a few years old now, but the tornados in it are still AWESOME!
LOL Heidi, always speaking random messages
omg u are so lucky u are still on xmas break next year though we get a extra few days i think becuz xmas is further in the week
HA heidi when I was just on my site that photo you put scared me LOL
Yeah, I'm still on Christmas break as well. I don't go back till the 7th. Unfortunately thats when the severe weather will supposedly happen.AAAAAAAAAAAA!
lol Heidi, is that you on Calebs frapper map???????
It scares me lol!
Yeah we go the 7th to the convective stuff will prolly start at 2:00 luckly I get out at 2:45! zack I'me on kenny's site so if ya wanna chat....
hey wats kenny's site?
For the record, the Spam vs. Vienna Sausages comment was a completely serious question. That's apparently a big debate between Reed & Joel when they're packing Hurricane Survival supplies. I really want to know what Dean's Blizzard Survival Food of choice is. Maybe potted meat??
And as for the photo on Caleb's page ... what? You don't like my bonnet??
;)
and i added my photo to celeb's website
Since there has been so much talk about the Entire TV.Net team In this blog, i'd though i'd point out this......................
JOEL WILL BE CELEBRATING HIS 28TH BIRTHDAY ON THE 6TH! HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY JOEL!
AND WE REQUEST A CURTAIN CALL ON THE 6TH
Wow i posted under my full name instead of "MynameisBen"
That was me.
I found this site in July we ha some severe weather around us and basicly searching for weather pages and came apon this site and im ery glad that i did.
Thanks for the nice comments guys! We've got a lot planned for the site in 2008 that will make everything a lot more user oriented.
Last I heard from Dean he was about 40 miles outside of Mt Shasta driving through the heaviest snow he's ever seen! Snow flakes to half dollar size and whiteout conditions. He's worried they're going to force a chain requirement...but I'm guessing he's almost to his hotel now. As he decreased and increased elevation on the highway, the precip was changing from very heavy rain to intense snow. AMAZING!
I would be scared driving in those conditions! So what is the verdict-Spam or Viena Sausages??
Reed-did you end up getting a new car?
Joel's B-day? AWSOME happy birthday from me!!!
Heidi lol, Calm down..... I was just saying:P
Yeah, that sounds amazing Reed!
Michael said that he is chaseing on monday right? I'me gonna take down the weekly news...
happy early b-day to joel
I know this is off topic but..Did anyone lose a key to a Dodge? :P I found one frozen on a lamp post, and burried under snow...I'm looking forward to finding the car that its owned to, and receive at least $150 :)
Happr early b-day Joel! Mines in about 23 days.
Caleb are you talking about me? Cus if ya are we are chasing if it looks like we will see tornadoes, if it's too marginal than we will pass.
Same here. mike where u out of ? jason
and just tell people who haven't found out that in 09 and 2010 there having a vortex 2 here's link for some more info
http://www.vortex2.org/
Holy wow that must be amazing out there in the Sierras. Pretty jealous of Dean. I heard Holder was thinking about heading up that way too.... I need weather immediately!
I'm still sitting here in Oklahoma unfortunately... Lack of a video camera and chains has gotten me behind.
I do still plan to venture into the fray however, as I will be heading up to the Donner Summit this weekend to document what should be ridiculously high snowfall totals.
Maybe I can get a little poker in once I get to Reno on the other side :)
Just got a report from Dean...he just now arrived at his hotel in Mt Shasta....when I first got on the phone he was receiving moderate rain/snow mix, and five minutes later it was very heavy snow. The really heavy precip won't move in until tomorrow morning, with 2-4 feet possible by Saturday night! He said there was about 8 inches of slushy snow on the ground as well.
Yes I now have a vehicle!!! we are mobile once again!
I'll be seeing you out there Michael if it materializes
omg you guys are lucky u can chase i want to go so bad
Hey Jason! I'm based out of Overland Park, KS which is outside of Kansas City.
Hey Reed Are you still in MI?
Hey guys! Yes I've arrived at my hotel in Mt Shasta City. About 4000ft elevation. Currently getting light snow between bands. About 8 inches current time. Oh, and for the record... my survival food of choice is SPAM lol. I spent a couple years in Hawaii, so yea. I have a case of cup-o-noodles while I still have hot water access.
Will be shooting a video update shortly. Stay tuned!!!
Good to hear you're not a potted meat man, Dean. *shudder*
I'm interested to know if people in the area are freaking out or if they're acting like it isn't a very big deal...
Take care & stay safe!
Heidi, Stephanie Abrams from the weather channel is in CALI (Truckee California i believe) covering this blizzard, according to a gentlemen she was talking too, they welcome the snow in the mountains, apparantly it isn't a very big deal, but 2 feet to 8 feet of snow and 100 plus mph winds seem like a VERY BIG deal if i was out that way-lol, but i would love to be in that stuff.
With every model run lately I seem to change my mind about different factors for this upcoming severe setup.
For example, I like my CAPE values more now than the last run, as with wind shear, but the precipitation at the time those two will be highest has dissapeared. I guess I'll just have to wait till the day of the before I feel confident about anything
UPDATE...
Theme has been rain/snow mix thus far here in Mt Shasta City. Seems I'm sitting right on the snow level as it fluctuates within a couple hundred feet. Interesting phenomena as rain flashes over to big snow flakes, then back to rain in a window of about 20 seconds. At times I could look up and see billows of big white snow flakes made visible by the parking lot lights...then the billows would materialize at the surface as a hvy snow shower for 20 seconds, then flash back to rain. Pretty fascinating stuff, but net result is frustration as I've not seen any accumulation since I arrived several hours ago.
Main event of precipitation yet to come and speak of the devil, there's an intense bad of precip about to move in as I type at 1:11am. Question is, will it remain rain/snow mix or change to snow soon enough to realize enough of the major snow accumulations to make things worth it. Tough to call right now. Warm advection ahead of current front may hold snow levels just above me or let them rise slightly. The kiss of death if so. OR, convective elements lending to high precip rates may induce enough dynamical cooling to bring snow levels down... at least on the small scale to see quick bursts of accumulating snow.
Either way... 2 close to call right now.
I've finished my first video update and upload to youtube is in progress though its incredibly slow, so might have to FTP the vid to Reed and have him youtube it and post it that way. Either way... you'll see vid updates tomorrow :)
I'm off to bed soon. More updates tomorrow :)
Dean... from Mt Shasta, CA ... OUT! g'nite
Good luck Dean!
Ya Good luck Dean lok foward to seeing the video of all this.
Well early happy Birthday Joel. I sure hope the weather pans out for next week but it seems like the models are getting a little weaker. :(