Well that was a storm cycle to remember. Last week, people laughed when I forecast 4-5 feet of snowfall, and then guffawed when I bumped it up to 5 to 7 feet of snow expected. But the official word from Palisades is that the storm cycle brought 92 inches or 7.5 feet of new snow. While both sides of the mountain were closed yesterday, I did 5 cycles of snow removal at home. That’s nothing compared to the level of work that was needed to get the mountain back open for an anxious crowd today. Kudos to all involved in that effort.
I still had one last huge round of snow removal to do at home today, so I was not part of the large crowd waiting for lifts to open this morning. I missed the opening of Subway, Meadow and then Roundhouse. By the time I was clicking into skis, Scott opened. This was great, as the line at Roundhouse vanished. That new snow was indeed really light, but it skied more like three feet of new snow, not 7 feet of new snow. Truth be told, there were enough people there today that once Scott opened, it looked like locusts had swarmed through just 15 minutes later.
I’m not one to fight for powder turns, so I never left Roundhouse today. I would much rather deal with sloppy seconds or shorter little hidden pow sections on big days like today. After not skiing yesterday, it didn’t take much to make me happy on the mountain today. Neither Summit or Lakeview opened today, so there will be something left for tomorrow. Temperatures remained cold today, and the skies were mostly cloudy. There might be 15 or 20 minutes worth of powder available tomorrow morning.
Lot 4 was almost loosely filled when I left this afternoon. Where did all of these people come from? Highway 80 was still closed. I know local schools were on a snow day but doesn’t anyone work anymore?
It’s Spring But Not Spring
Being March 1st, today is the first day of meteorological spring. You wouldn’t have know that by the ski conditions today. Things will be slightly warmer over the next two days, but another significant storm moves in for the weekend. Here’s the Winter Storm Watch from the Reno office:
Last week, I mentioned that the Sacramento office often has higher numbers for the west slopes of the Sierra. Their watch calls for up to 5 feet of snow by Monday. Again this weekend, snow levels are going to be very low. Getting here tomorrow or Friday should not be an issue. The trip home Sunday will be an issue. Also, note the forecast for very high winds. That certainly has the potential to put Summit, Scott, Lakeview and much of the upper mountain at Palisades on wind hold. The masses will not hear about that part from their favorite weather personality on TV. Expect powder fever, limited terrain and possible highway closures for the weekend.
There is another storm in the works mid-next week that has an AR-ish look to it. I mentioned on Monday the worry that it could bring higher snow levels. The last couple of weather models I reviewed today look like the AR will stay in Southern California. That would put us on the colder northern side of the jet stream and reduce the chances of a rain on snow event.
For the following weekend…yet another big system. We are not done with winter yet. Just picking one model run out of several look-alike runs, it shows the potential for another 5-6 feet of snow, or more, over the next two weeks. Everyone that lives in the area is asking the same question…where will I put those next rounds of snow? Looking at my own home as an example, the snow is now the deepest we have ever seen since moving there in 2003.
Looking at the official measurements from the base area of Alpine Meadows, we stand at 434.5 inches of snow so far this year. That’s 174% of the season to date average of 249 inches. Looking at the 52 year average, March is typically the second snowiest month at Alpine Meadows, with an average snowfall of 71 inches. Looking at the forecast over the next two weeks, we will likely exceed the average monthly total again. We’re about on par with ’94-’95, ’10-’11 and ’18-’19 for snowfall at this point.
It’s going to be so nice to wake up tomorrow morning and not have to touch a snowblower or shovel!
Man… can’t you just enjoy a great powder day. Promise land to Sherwood to our father diilvered mostly fresh tracks all day. The line at roundhouse was gone after the first lap. Great day out there.
Not jaded
Also fresh tracks all day… no lines. Yes it was a great day. But it also was very busy for a weekday. I try not to oversell powder days as that just adds to overcrowding by setting unrealistic expectations.
Agreed, let’s not oversell the day to prove to yourself that you had a good time.
The point here is that Mark and Andy tell it like it is. They are not a part of the marketing department.
Former Alpine Meadows skier (late 1960s to early 1980s) checking in from Arizona. Yes, people ski there. Ariz Snowbowl, on the western slope of the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff, has received 322″ for the season so far (Avg annual = 260″), with a base depth now a whopping (for there) 109″ per Open Snow, almost double the normal, even if a mere pittance compared with Mammoth’s 300″ base depth. I mention these figures only to say that this winter has been so amazing that the wet weather has swept as far south as AZ’s two “major” ski resorts, Snowbowl and Sunrise, which sit at the low latitudes of approx 35 and 34 (same latitude as LA), respectively. Viva the winter of ’22-’23!