Snowfall Reports:
An additional 16 inches of snow fell on the mountain in the past 24 hours as of 5 AM Tuesday. That brings the 3-day storm totals to 52 inches and counting on the mountain!
Tuesday – Wednesday Snow Showers:
Winds are gusting a bit higher than forecast Tuesday morning with ridgetop winds up to 60-70+ mph. That could delay some lift openings. The forecast models show 40-50+ mph gusts through the day from the west-southwest. Highs into the 20s Tuesday into Wednesday.
Snow showers Tuesday morning should back off through midday, and then scattered snow showers are possible through the afternoon. A final steadier band of snow moves through later Tuesday night into Wednesday before ending by the end of the day. Ridgetop winds could gust up to 60-70+ mph again Wednesday morning before falling through the afternoon.
Here are the expected additional snowfall totals through Wednesday.
- 4-8 inches at mid-mountain elevations.
- 5-10 inches at mid-mountain elevations.
- 7-12 inches up top.
Thursday – Saturday Storm:
Thursday we will see increasing clouds and winds with highs in the 30s. Ridgetop winds from the southwest increase to 60-70+ mph by afternoon. Snow showers could move in by late afternoon with snow levels starting out near the base.
Thursday night heavy rain and snow push in with rising snow levels. We expect very heavy precipitation through Friday night, with steady precip turning to showers Saturday and more steady precipitation for Saturday night. Strong winds over 100+ mph Friday will likely keep many lifts closed, with strong winds coming down through the day on Saturday.
Snow levels rise overnight to around 7500-8000 ft. Thursday night into Friday morning, and up to 7000-7500 ft. by Friday afternoon. Friday night through Saturday snow levels should slowly come down. They could reach 6200-6700 ft. by early Saturday morning and hover in the 6000-6700 ft. range into Sunday.
We expect heavy rain at the base up to 7000 ft. with this storm, which will cause a lot of issues with the snowpack becoming wet and run-off ponding. There is a boom/bust zone for snowfall between 7000-8000 ft. depending on snow levels. Above 8000 ft. we should see 4-5 feet of heavy wet snow. Here is a look at the initial forecast for expected snowfall by Sunday morning.
- 2-5 inches at mid-mountain elevations.
- 5-46 inches at mid-mountain elevations.
- 46-60 inches up top.
This storm is strong with a lot of precipitation and wind. You’ll want to stay tuned for more details as we get closer, and to the mountain operations updates.
Long-Range:
We could see a lull with scattered showers Sunday into Sunday night. Then another strong and wet storm similar to the previous storm is expected to move in Monday and could last into next Wednesday. the 15th.
We could see a break next Thursday into Friday the 17th, but we could see more storms into the last week of March. More details as we get closer.
BA
