The Sierra Nevada mountains of California and Nevada are experiencing a rare extreme blizzard this weekend with incredible amounts of snow and strong winds forecast through Sunday including major travel corridors like Interstate 80 over Donner Summit and the Lake Tahoe area. Storm total snowfall may approach 11 feet (3.4 m) in some spots and […]
Low to bring atmospheric river and mix of other hazards to California through Tuesday
A low pressure system moving toward California is forecast to bring a broad swath of weather hazards to the region through Tuesday. Most notably, the path of the low as it moves toward San Francisco and then north up the West Coast will result in the cold front boundary and associated moisture plume being aimed […]
Smoke from California wildfires headed for the Pacific Northwest; fire danger east of the Cascades starting Wednesday
The weather pattern that is forecast to bring excessive heat to the Pacific Northwest for much of this week may also bring wildfire smoke into the region from fires burning in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. As of Monday morning, the largest smoke maker out of these is the Oak Fire burning near Yosemite National Park. […]
Sediment transport in Death Valley
Author’s Note: This part of a weekly series on geology for a class I am taking this semester at BYU-Idaho. This week’s prompt required students to go outside, take a photo showing an example of sediment transport and explain what is going on. Other posts from this assignment can be found under the “Geology 111” […]
Carson Sink rocks
Author’s Note: This part of a weekly series on geology for a class I am taking this semester at BYU-Idaho. This week’s prompt required students find and take a picture of a sedimentary rock. Other posts from this assignment can be found under the “Geology 111” category. After looking at the prompt, it was not […]
What difference does elevation make for air pressure?
Saturday, my wife and I took a few kids we go to church with up to Mount Rose and Lake Tahoe while their mom had a work meeting in Reno. After spending some time playing in the snow where Highway 431 crosses the mountain (elevation 8,911), we drove down to Kings Beach for some hot […]
Warm system for Thanksgiving week
An atmospheric river is set up to douse almost the entire West Coast. Raising freezing levels today and tomorrow will aid Thanksgiving travelers the next couple of days, keeping snow off of the major passes. By midnight Monday night, the freezing level in much of Oregon will be above 9,000 feet with freezing levels remaining near […]
Halloween forecast for Reno
Nevada Day is here and that means Halloween is right around the corner. As you head out for Halloween-related activities for the next few days, expect dry conditions and near-average temperatures. We will be leaving the month with dropping temperatures as winds in the upper atmosphere shift to bring cooler air south out of Canada. […]