Today’s Overview: February 6, 2017
Our crews worked through the night last night to prepare the mountain for operations and maintain terrain and access roads. Watch below as our Squaw Valley Grooming Manager, Kurt Wilhelmy, battled winds in excess of 100mph with low visibility while grooming the road to the top of Headwall Chair.
Video shot last night on GoPro
Today extremely high winds caused wind holds and closures for all aerial chairs at both mountains. The beginner carpets were able to operate for part of the day. Wind gusts clocked in as high as 116mph at Squaw Valley and 118mph at the top of Alpine Meadows. Check out NOAA wind sensors here:
Storms and High Winds Continue
Stormy and wet weather is expected to continue all week. It is currently snowing at the bases of both mountains, but snow levels are forecasted to rise Tuesday and Wednesday. High winds remain in effect all week.
National Weather Service Forecast
NOAA’s forecast calls for the following:
- This Afternoon: Snow. The snow could be heavy at times. High near 36. Strong and damaging winds, with a southwest wind 55 to 65 mph, with gusts as high as 95 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 5 to 9 inches possible.
- Tonight: Snow. The snow could be heavy at times. Low around 32. Strong and damaging winds, with a southwest wind 55 to 60 mph, with gusts as high as 90 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 15 to 21 inches possible.
- Tuesday: Rain and snow, becoming all rain after 11am. The rain and snow could be heavy at times. High near 40. Strong and damaging winds, with a southwest wind 55 to 60 mph, with gusts as high as 90 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
Tomorrow’s Operations Outlook, February 7, 2017
Both mountains are gearing up to run lower mountain lifts tomorrow–crews will be working overnight to prepare lifts and terrain as conditions allow. “Damaging winds” are expected to persist, and operations will likely be affected. Please check our lift & trail status page and app for updates tomorrow morning and throughout the day.
Projected Scheduled Lifts
Every evening at 4pm, our Dispatch Teams publish their “schedule” for the following days operations on our website and app. This is our operations team best guess of what we will be able to operate based on weather forecasts, avalanche forecasts, terrain accessibility and so much more. We encourage you to review this projection and keep in mind on dynamic storm days, these projections from the night before, could change in the morning and throughout the day based on terrain and lift assessments from patrollers, groomers and lift mechanics out on the field. It is always best to check the app or website for real-time information as this is updated by our Dispatch Teams who are in direct communication with the operation folks on the mountain.
