Happy Groundhog Day!

UPDATED: Monday, February 2, 1:30pm

Punxsutawney Phil on Groundhog Day 2015.  Source: Washington Post

Summary:

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning: it looks like we have another 6 weeks of winter to look forward to.  While the East Coast has been shivering and digging out from snow, we continue to live in the non-winter of 2015.  For the first half of the week, the weather will be the same as it has been for the past month: cool nights and warm days under sunny skies.  No snow is in the forecast for Tahoe for at least the first half of the week.  At the beaches a new swell has arrived from the west producing some fun, chest-head high surf.  

Around Tahoe:

I feel like a broken record, but at least for the first half of the week, no changes are in store.  In the Sierra, highs will be in the 40’s and 50’s depending on your elevation and lows will be at or below freezing.  The big news is that the forecast models are beginning to show a possible series of storms coming into the region this weekend.  There is great uncertainty as to whether or not they will drop far enough south to drop some significant precip.  Sadly, the first storm is looking very warm with snow levels in the 9,000-10,000ft range (only a few peaks in Tahoe have summits over 10,000ft.).  Later in the weekend we could see another storm with possibly lower snow levels.  This is still nearly a week away, so confidence in how much and what kind of precip Tahoe will receive is low.  However, it’s great to see some different weather on the horizon.  

For more Tahoe snow details, check out the Tahoe Daily Snow and follow Tahoe Weather on Facebook.

Backcountry Conditions from the Sierra Avalanche Center:

LOW avy danger dominates the backcountry with the old, shallow snowpack.  Be on the lookout for rocks, branches and everything that could poke through the shallow snowpack.  Check the full report for observations and details.

Hike and Bike Conditions Around the Bay:

The non-winter conditions continue.  Expect highs in the 60’s and lows in the 40’s under some passing high clouds around the area through midweek.  

This weekend the UD crew had a blast out in Marin on Saturday along the Cataract Falls trail.  There wasn’t a ton of water in Cataract Creek, but the hike was beautiful and the views from high on the slopes of Mt. Tam were spectacular.   

Surf Around the Region:  

A new midperiod swell is now hitting our beaches and the waves look fun!  Play hookie and paddle out if you can.  I surfed out in Pacifica twice this weekend and the waves were great, so great that I ended up staying out under the full moon on Saturday night.  

Don’t forget about the new Learn to Surf Series starting up in February in Pacifica.  Sign up and let me teach you to surf!

Sunrise/Sunset and Tidal Information:

February 2, 2015

Sunrise: 7:13am, Sunset 5:34pm
Low Tide: 4:05am at 2.5ft/ 16:50 at -0.2ft.
High Tide: 10:08am 6.2ft./  23:52 at 5.1ft.

Have a great week and get outside however you can!

SB