High Sierra Topix

Owens Valley & High Country Forecast
Fort Independence EPA Met Station
EPA Site No: 06-027-1028
0855 PDT 08 Sep 2006

All:

Short Term…You can expect a gradual cool down and moderate winds Friday/Saturday/Sunday. Drier more stable air will spread across our area decreasing the chance of thunderstorm activity into the weekend. Temperature highs will be in the mid to upper 60s for the High Country and lows in the mid 30s. The Owens Valley will see afternoon temps in the upper 80s and lows in the mid 50s.

Long Term…A warming trend will start on Monday through the middle of next week, with temps raising a few degrees. The chance of T-Storm activity will continue to be low through at least Tuesday. High temps in the Owens Valley will be in the upper 80s/low 90s and evening temps in the mid 50 range. For the High Country, daytime temps will be in the upper 60s and lows in the mid 30s. The trees in the Upper Elevations (above 8,000 feet) are now beginning their color change, with aspens turning yellow and orange. You can expect full color spectrum by end of month.

Dennis Mattinson
Air Quality Specialist
Local Weather Forecast

Hi Dennis thanks for your weather input. I've been over in the Owens and Eastern Sierra quite a bit this summer. I noticed during that the last few weeks of mostly dry weather that the air quality east of the Sierra has been relatively stale. Not as bad as when the alkali dust often blew about but just moderately brown especially early in the morning which has made for mediocre alpenglow at the high elevations. Also most of the summer there has been a considerable up from Arizona into central Nevada often with monsoonal thunderstorm conditions. I'm wondering if that flow has had something to do with bringing dirty air from Southern California and Arizona urban areas. At this time of year, the first minor cold fronts usually sweep from the northwest across the Sierra which then ought to scour any of the dirty air away.
...David

David:

The southern sierra area (kern and little lake to name a few) have had a number of wildfires within the last month, which the forest service has allowed to burn with no intervention. This has been the primary reason for the dirty air. We have also had influnces from a few tropical storms which have sent moisture into the area and caused t-storm activity. finally, July is typically the monsoon season here in the eastern sierra and thus we have again had quite a bit of activity. We will begin to see some inside slider activity mid Sept and that along with troughs moving in from the NW pacific now, will cause much of the dirty air to leave the area.

Dennis