My ski buddies called me out, again, this morning. You would think that a guy that goes to Alpine Meadows every day, and enjoys weather forecasting as a hobby, would remember to bring his storm shell when snow is expected. Yet my track record is very poor this season. Today was another one of those days. The last I saw, there was only a 30% chance of snow this morning. By the time I pulled up in the parking lot, snow was falling.
For much of the morning, the skiing was spectacular. The grooming team at Alpine Meadows has been so dialed in this season. It was pretty easy to spin hot laps off of Summit on just about any groomed run and have a great time. With the light being a little flat, I preferred the less traveled Wolverine Bowl and Terry’s Return. It also helps that both of those runs offer some trees along the edge to give things a bit more definition.
Lower on the mountain, Yellow, Dance Floor and Kangaroo Ridge were my picks of the day. The Weasel area was quite a bit firmer and less pleasant.
North facing slopes off piste slopes still offered soft winter snow. I did a little sampling along the lower edge of Palisades and parts of Rolls and Knolls. It was only the flat light that sent me scurrying back to the groomed runs.
Snow continued falling throughout the morning, adding another little layer of padding and grip to the snow surface. As the day wore on, temperatures began to climb above 32° and that new snow became a bit wetter. That’s especially important for the guy that didn’t bring a storm shell for the day.
Pay attention to the weather for tomorrow. There are some strong north east winds and cold temperatures in the forecast that may cause you to reconsider your ski plans. As of this afternoon, temperatures are expected to remain below freezing, with winds gusting up to 80-100mph over the crest. Should that pan out, we would likely see very limited lift operations for tomorrow, with Summit, ABC, Scott and Lakeview possibly being on windhold. It won’t be an ideal spring day, except for flying kites or surfing Lake Tahoe.
There’s some other breezy days in the forecast this week before we start to see more spring-like temperatures this weekend. The weather models remain very inactive over the next 16 days.