Snowfall Report:
The upper mountain picked up an additional 38 inches of snow in the past 24 hours as of 5 AM Tuesday! That brings the 7-day totals to over 100 inches and counting, and pushed the season total to over 500 inches so far!
The high avalanche danger and blizzard conditions continuing Tuesday will keep the mountain closed for the day.
Tuesday Blizzard:
The winds are gusting up to 90+ mph up top from the southwest Tuesday morning with colder temperatures and heavy snow continuing to pile up dry powdery snow on the mountain. Highs in the teens up top and 20s at the base. The winds are whipping around the snow causing low visibility and big drifts.
The snow starts to wind down Tuesday night with scattered snow showers possible into Wednesday morning as we start to clear out. It remains cold Wednesday with partly sunny skies and high into the 20s. Gusty east winds up to 40-50+ mph up top.
We expect to double down on the 24-hour snowfall Tuesday through Tuesday night, with an additional 2-3+ feet of snow expected by Wednesday morning! That means we could see up to 140 inches of snow in total by Wednesday morning for the 8-day totals!
Thursday – Friday:
We will see a break in the active pattern from Thursday into Friday, with mostly sunny skies and highs into the 30s along with lighter winds. It should be beautiful!
Weekend Snow:
Another cold trough digs into the West Coast Saturday into next week. That will reopen the door to more cold storms Saturday into possibly next Wednesday the 8th.
We may see light snow showers move in Saturday morning with heavier snow possible by afternoon and into Sunday. We also expect ridgetop winds to increase to 80-90+ mph Saturday which will likely close some lifts. Highs drop back down into the 20s for the weekend.
Here is a look at the initial snowfall forecast for the weekend, for possible new snowfall totals by early Monday morning.
- 20-27 inches at the base.
- 24-31 inches at mid-mountain elevations.
- 28-35 inches up top.
Long-Range:
We could transition from a cold/wet pattern through the 8th to a not-as-cold wet pattern starting around the 9th through mid-March. We’re watching for the possibility of a strengthening Pacific jet stream streaming across the Pacific into CA during this period, sending storms into CA with fluctuating snow levels.
We’ll continue to watch the trends as we get closer.
BA
