Mammoth Lakes and Eastern Sierra Weather for Thursday, August 26th, 2021 @ 1 PM

Synopsis… A mild warming trend will begin today as a ridge of high pressure to our west starts to influence our weather.

It will continue to be dry with increased fire concerns as temperatures warm and dew points remain low.

By next Tuesday the area will be under the influence of some toughing of the coast and they will bring highs back to average to just below average.

Looking way out to the Labor Day weekend, as of now it appears we will have average highs with continued dry conditions.

Smoke and Haze Update: Today in the Eastern Sierra we have good air quality above 8500 feet in the high country.

As you go down in elevation the air quality goes to moderate in Crowley Lake to stage one levels in Bishop.

Here is the link you can use to monitor the air quality in the Eastern Sierra. When the pointer is the in the green or yellow range you’re good to go out and play. When the pointer hits orange and red I would avoid being outside for extended periods of time. (If you’re sensitive to dissipated smoke I would not consider the yellow range good to go.)

Also to note only the N95 masks work to help prevent the haze and smoke particles from entering your lungs and blood stream. The blue masks everyone is wearing are worthless against wildfire particles.

Temperatures: Highs will be in the low to mid 70s on Mammoth Mountain and up in the Mammoth Lakes Basin at the 9000-foot level. Mammoth Lakes will be in the upper 70s into the low 80s by the weekend with Bishop into the upper 90s with low 100s over the weekend.

Night-time lows will be in the upper 40s to low 50s for the high country and into the mid-to upper 50s for Bishop and Round Valley.

Winds: Expect southwest winds in the 5-10 MPH range in the lower elevations with upper elevations seeing gusts in the 20-35+ MPH range at times.

Here are the links to the local NWS Forecasts for Main Lodge & the Mammoth Lakes Basin, Mammoth Lakes, June Lake, Crowley Lake, and Bishop.

Extended Outlook: Looking out towards the early Fall season we can expect to start to see insider sliders show up by mid to late September into early October. Many a year there will also be the first dusting of snow later in the month of September.

It’s any ones guess what to expect during October into November. Over the last 20 years or so it seems that time period is more dry than wet anymore.

Hopefully, we can get an early-season AR into the area during early to mid-November to lay some base down.

For the upcoming winter, most of the extended models have us in a neutral ENSO state, with several showing a weak La Nina. As of now, I expect the chances of an average snowfall winter are much greater than a 3rd year of exponential drought.