Pretty good skiing this afternoon as the storm moves in
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
There was about an inch of snow on the hill by the time I made it up there this afternoon, and skiing on the north and northwestern aspects was soft. The left side of Storm Peak Face in the Sideburn area was excellent after which I tested the left side of Twister. A bit crunchy, so I traversed over to Tornado and skied soft snow to Tornado Lane.
Up for another ride and skied soft snow in the Ridge area down to Flying Z. Even the sides of the more trafficked runs Tornado Lane, Heavenly Daze and Vogue provided a soft mix of natural and man-made snow. About an inch of snow on my deck in these last 2 hours, and it is currently snowing. Looking forward to tomorrow!
Major winter storm begins a bit later than forecast
Models are struggling with the exact timing of the moderate snowfall, but it still is forecast to arrive sometime this afternoon. The cold front just to our north gets pushed northward or held stationary by the southwesterly winds aloft until it regains forward progress, certainly by sunset today. Snow will become moderate to heavy then, and continue through Wednesday afternoon. I still expect accumulations likely exceeding 2 feet by sunset Wednesday on the hill, with significant accumulations in the valley as well.
Very cold air will accompany the decrease in snowfall late Wednesday as the main upper low moves overs us. Frigid Thursday temperatures will be reinforced by another wave of extremely cold air entering the area Friday. Another storm dropping south from the arctic will bring yet another wave of cold and significant snow by mid-weekend.
The cold and snow pattern looks to persist into early next week as the currently forecast last very cold wave moves overs us on Monday. This one is not as far west, and it appears that the storm cycle will end then as westerlies begin to infiltrate our area. However, the significant valley snowfall combined with low sun angle this time of year promises vigorous and long-lasting valley inversions, even as the mountain slopes begin to moderate by Wednesday or Thursday. Winter is here to stay!
Major winter storm hits Tuesday morning
Monday, December 2, 2013
A storm currently situated to our northwest will affect our area perhaps as early as Monday night with light showers and very windy conditions. The cold front that will bring the very cold winter-like temperatures southward is now projected to move across the area a bit faster than earlier forecasted, perhaps as early as Tuesday morning. Good snows Tuesday should produce 8-16” on the hill by Wednesday morning. Our snow on Wednesday will be dependent upon how far south the frontal boundary moves, and current forecasts have this a but further north and more stationary. For this reason, I’m increasing the forecast a bit and I might expect an additional 6-12” after the morning report that will appear on the Thursday morning report.
There may be a break in snowfall Thursday and Friday before a Pacific wave rounds a building ridge in the Gulf of Alaska kicks the main part of the storm over us late Friday. More snow and likely the coldest temperatures of this arctic outbreak are expected then. Snow and cold will continue through the weekend as additional waves of energy form the north move over the area in the very cold and unstable air mass.
It appears that early in the next work week the ridge in the Gulf of Alaska that has shunted this very cold over our area will not break down as earlier forecast. A small wave is forecast early in the next work week and then a much larger storm is forecast mid week as another surge of arctic air moves over the west.
Some snow accumulations by Monday before a major winter-like storm affects our area on Tuesday
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Light snow will continue today and become slightly heavier tonight as a subtle wave grazes us in moist northwest flow. I might expect 3-6” on the hill by Monday afternoon based upon this morning’s model runs.
Skies should clear by Monday afternoon before a storm currently situated around the Gulf of Alaska will affect our area perhaps as early as Monday night with light showers. The cold front that will bring the very cold winter-like temperatures southward is now projected to move across the area a bit faster than earlier forecasted, perhaps as early as Tuesday morning. Good snows Tuesday should produce 6-12” on the hill by Wednesday morning. Our snow on Wednesday will be dependent upon how far south the frontal boundary moves, and I might expect an additional 4-8” during the day that will appear on the Thursday morning report.
There may be a break in snowfall Thursday morning before a Pacific wave rounds a building ridge in the Gulf of Alaska kicks the main part of the storm over us around Friday. More snow and likely the coldest temperatures of this arctic outbreak are expected then. Snow and cold will continue through the weekend as additional waves of energy form the north move over the area in the very cold and unstable air mass.
It appears that early in the next work week the ridge in the Gulf of Alaska that has shunted this very cold over our area will break down and allow a moderation of temperatures along the mountain slopes. However, inversions will develop and persist at lower elevations keeping mountain valleys in the deep freeze.
Great solid base on the upper mountain
Saturday, November 30, 2013
I went over to Chute 1 yesterday to see how the coverage was, and was very impressed with how solid the three feet or so of base felt. Only a rock or two poking out, but even the top rollover was covered well enough to ski. A bit tricky yesterday and then again today when I went back as the snow surface is very uneven due to avalanche control work by Patrol and the resultant slides, but good steep skiing nonetheless!
Found some powder in the trees around Four Points along the northern aspects and in other shaded regions. But these swatches of powder were only a few turns at a time, except near the cat tracks where I found maybe a half dozen sweet turns. Same was true over in Priest Creek, although that has a far more southern exposure allowing the sun to affect the snow more. The lower half of Flying Z was also skiing quite well.
So great coverage and excellent early season skiing! We may get a bit of snow tomorrow, but the storm cycle forecast to begin mid-week or a bit earlier is eagerly awaited.
