There’s still a bit of June-uary in the air before the next storm moves in. The clouds move in tomorrow morning and the rain should move in by the afternoon. So first today is Andy Wertheim’s latest report, followed by an update on the weather for the weekend. It still is quite the mix….
Andy Wertheim: More Excellent Skiing
Skiers and Boarders,
It feels like spring today. Temperatures at the base have reached 47 degrees. It is still in the mid 30’s on the ridge top, feels warmer. The sky is clear blue. Skiing remains excellent. All the north facing slopes are still soft packed powder with small moguls in the heavier skied areas. Groomed runs were fast and smooth today.
The entire mountain is open including the Alpine Squaw interconnect which is more of a hike from Alpine to Squaw, but can be a nice tour.
We have received over 200 inches of snow this year. There are 111 inches of snow on the ground on the upper mountain. Attached is a photo of Bob standing next to the wall of snow that has built up along side the road to Wolverine from Summit Chair.
Enjoy your day,
Andy Wertheim
Some Variations In The Forecast
As we noted yesterday, there’s not a ton of confidence being exhibited by any forecaster for the upcoming event. We liked a quote posted yesterday in the WestherWest.com comments.
Absolutely this is it maybe. – Dog The Bounty Hunter
That does about sum it up. While the models are coming together for some elements of the forecast, others remain as clear as mud. One thing that is just about sure is that skiing and riding is likely to be bad on Friday. Snow levels are still forecast to be 8,000 feet or higher, with 3-5 inches of rain possible near the crest. Making matters worse is that forecasters are now noting the possibility of some damaging winds on Friday, which means that lift closures are a definite reality. Snow levels are expected to crash overnight on Friday night, but exactly how much moisture will be left to fall as snow is a little bit more uncertain. The point forecast for Alpine Meadows wants to place 12-20 inches at mid mountain by Saturday night. However, the forecast still mentions high winds for Saturday as the front exits the area.
A second system forecast for Sunday into Monday continues to move farther south with some model runs. This is excellent news for Southern California, which has been very dry for the last two months. Although some forecasters have written off this system completely, the last run of the GFS show enough moisture to still bring another foot or more of new snow. The snow levels by that time are again expected to be closer to 3000 feet, so snow-water ratios should be higher than usual. So Sunday could be a good day and so might Monday, unless you’re driving over Donner Pass and don’t enjoy keeping your chains on to Alta or below.
It’s the longer range, the models did even more flipping around. For several runs yesterday and this morning, the models suddenly built in a strong ridge beyond Monday. BA noted in his morning report that the setup would result in a 10 day dry spell for Tahoe. The 18Z run of the GFS flipped on that idea and again shows a bigger system moving in at the end of Super Bowl weekend. Weekend warriors that are making the commute from points west must be boring of the weekend sequencing of these storms. It is what is…far better than an endless ridge of high pressure.
Morning Update: It looks like BA made the right call yesterday as the Sunday storm continues to dive south, leaving just about nothing for Tahoe. That’s according to the 00Z GFS (below). The Euro does still keep things a bit farther north. Could be good news for weekend warriors needing to get home Sunday….and good news for SoCal resorts.
Uh…Alpine Squaw interconnect? The ones with wheels?
Hike from the KT Saddle to alpine or alpine to squaw. Much more enjoyable than the bus ride in my opinion.