Joshua Tree, California 7 Day Weather Forecast

Wx Forecast - Wx Discussion - Wx Aviation

976
FXUS65 KVEF 280853
AFDVEF

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Las Vegas NV
1253 AM PST Sat Dec 28 2024

.SYNOPSIS...A persistent ridge of high pressure will hold over
the Desert Southwest providing dry conditions and above normal
temperatures for most of our forecast area going into the New Year.
A few disturbances riding over the ridge will brush the Southern
Sierra and Great Basin today, Sunday and possibly New Year`s Eve
bringing areas of gusty winds.

&&

.SHORT TERM...through Sunday.

Weak high pressure will sit over the area today resulting in dry
conditions and light winds. We will see plenty of high clouds
streaming across the area today, but temperatures are still expected
to remain several degrees above normal.

This ridge will be short lived as another shortwave moves through
the western US Sunday and Monday. Like with the previous shortwave,
much of the energy will remain to our north with only some light
precipitation for the high Sierra and the higher terrain of northern
Lincoln County. Snow accumulations in the Sierra are only expected
to remain around 2-3" or less with most of that falling above 9,000
feet. Aspendell, which sits at 8500`, has only about a 10% chance of
seeing at least an inch of snow, so overall this is a rather dry
system. The main impact from this system will be the wind which is
expected to increase Sunday morning and continue into the early
evening. Gusty downslope winds are likely in the eastern Sierra and
the latest HREF is showing the potential for these winds to make it
all the way into the Owens Valley and potentially affect Highway
395. Because of this, have gone ahead and issued a Wind Advisory for
the Owens Valley from 10am until 7pm for gusty west winds up to 50
mph. Another area that could see gusty winds will be Esmeralda
County where the latest hires models are also indicating winds
gusting over 40 mph. It looks like the strongest winds in that area
will affect mainly the western half of the county, including Fish
Lake Valley and Dyer. Elsewhere, breezy to locally windy conditions
are expected with most areas seeing gusts 20-35 mph. Western San
Bernardino County could see isolated wind gusts over 40 mph, but at
this time those winds don`t look widespread and held off on any wind
products. Temperatures will peak on Sunday with most areas seeing
readings about 10-15 degrees above normal.

.LONG TERM...Monday through Friday.

Dry northwesterly flow will prevail on Monday between a low
amplitude ridge over the eastern Pacific and an active storm track
across the PacNW and northern Rockies. A weak shortwave will
progress through the eastern Great Basin Tuesday morning which will
help cool temperatures down slightly but will otherwise have a
limited influence on our regional weather. Thereafter, a larger high
amplitude ridge will begin to build over the West, ensuring a dry
and mild start to 2025.

&&

.AVIATION...For Harry Reid...Light winds favoring typical diurnal
direction trends will continue at the terminal into Sunday morning.
By late Sunday afternoon, there is a 25% chance of south-southeast
to southwest winds in excess of 15 knots developing. Periods of high
clouds with bases AOA 20kft AGL will move across the valley through
the TAF period, but no operational impacts are anticipated.

For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeastern
California...Winds at regional TAF sites will remain light and
follow typical diurnal directional trends through tonight.  Winds
will increase on Sunday with gusty winds, at times in excess of 30
knots, developing along the Sierra and across the western Mojave
Desert, including KBIH and KDAG.  Periods of high clouds with bases
AOA 20kft AGL will move across the area into Sunday morning, but no
significant operational impacts are anticipated.

&&

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report
any significant weather or impacts according to standard operating
procedures.

&&

$$

SHORT TERM...Gorelow
LONG TERM...Outler
AVIATION...Planz

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