We had a fantastic morning of skiing at Alpine Meadows today, with sunny skies and excellent groomers. The phrase of the day seemed to be “I’ve got the speeds!” My goal was to get in as many laps as I could on Summit today, as it looks doubtful we will see much of the upper mountain over the next four days. Strong winds are expected over the Sierra Crest for each of the next 4 days.
Punxsutawney Phil did see his shadow today, Groundhog Day. We used to say that means that we will see six more weeks of winter. But here in Tahoe, it means we will see 6 more weekends of intense ski area traffic.
You would think that most people might really pay attention to the weather and know the wind will have an impact over the weekend. They don’t. All they hear is some weather personality talking about 1-3 feet of new snow expected this weekend, and they start packing the car. So what’s the expectations for weather this weekend?
Friday: The “nothingburger” storm is still slated to bring a lot of bluster but not much substance. Sierra crest wind speeds are expected to be around 100mph in the morning. There’s a better than even chance that Summit and the entire upper mountain next store will be on windhold. Only an inch accumulation of snow is expected.
Saturday: The clouds should move on and the wind should taper a bit in the morning, before increasing again in the afternoon. We could start the day with Summit…but I expect it may close as winds pick up in the afternoon.
Saturday Night: The bulk of the snow moves in to the area overnight. The point forecast shows 14 to 20 inches overnight at mid mountain.
Sunday: The snow continues into Sunday evening, with up to another foot falling during the day. High winds will once again be a factor, with ridge gusts expected to be over 100 mph again.
In summary…2 to 3 feet of snow is possible, but lift operations will be likely be limited to lower mountain lifts for much of the weekend. Snow levels start right about base level overnight Saturday, then drop to 4-5000 feet by Sunday evening.
Monday: Appointments with Dr White will be in great demand Monday with powder fever running rampant…so I would expect that Monday will be an extension of the weekend.
In other news…Rhonda caught this photo this morning of Patrol removing the last of the equipment out of the old avalanche control tower in the parking lot this morning. It looks like the bigger, better new tower on the other side of the gondola is about complete. Inquiring minds want to know what the plan is for the old tower. AirBnB? Employee Housing?