TODAY’S OVERVIEW: FEBRUARY 8, 2017
Today both mountains opened with limited operations and some delays. Our crews were once again challenged by extremely high winds (upwards of 100mph gusts) as well as heavy rain and unstable snow.
Alpine Meadows experienced a partial power outage early this morning, which was restored by 8am. Alpine crews were able to open Hot Wheels, Meadow and Subway at 9am and Roundhouse shortly after that. At 2pm, Subway lift closed for the day due to flooding on the loading ramp.
Squaw Valley experienced a phone and server outage, which affected some communications until the issue was resolved mid-day. Squaw crews opened Red Dog, Far East, Squaw Creek and the carpets at 10am. Red Dog and Squaw Creek went on wind hold later in the day.
Rain Tomorrw, Snow Friday, Sun Saturday
Source: NOAA Forecast
Tonight & Tomorrow
Rain and high winds continue tonight through tomorrow. NOAA has issued a Flood Warning and states in their weather discussion that “the final atmospheric river (for this week) is expected to sweep across the Sierra Thursday….it is narrower and going to move quickly from north to south across the Sierra with less residence time over one area. Heavy rainfall will occur in an intense 6-12 hour period.”
Turning to Snow by Friday
According to BA’s weather blog updated this morning at 5:07am, “Thursday night colder air works in with snow levels falling to the base by Friday morning. We could see 3-8 inches on the mountain by morning. Friday snow showers could continue into Friday evening. 1-3 additional inches possible at the base, and 3-6 inches on the mountain. Winds still strong on the mountains Friday.”
NOAA has issued a Winter Storm Warning in effect from 10am Thursday through 1am Saturday.
Saturday Sun
Saturday should be a nice break in the storms. NOAA is forecasting sunny with a high of 29 degrees!
TOMORROW’S OPERATIONS OUTLOOK, FEBRUARY 9, 2017
With more “strong and damaging winds” in the forecast, we expect operations to be affected with delays and possible wind holds at both mountains. Depending on the level of rainfall, we could potentially see more flooding at the bases and loading ramps of certain chairlifts including Subway at Alpine Meadows and Red Dog and Squaw Creek at Squaw Valley. Please check our lift & trail status page and tune into our app for updates in the morning and throughout the day. You can also check our Mountain Operations Twitter Account for real-time notifications.
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’s 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.
