Hello skiers, riders and sailors!
And hello to Dave Brown, and many thanks for the Gorge backcountry skiing over the last week. You made my holiday season!
I hope everyone had a great holiday and got at least one thing they wanted from Santa or the Hanukkah fairy or Mother Earth... hey, who brings the presents if you celebrate winter Solstice, anyway?
So, here's the point of this email. There are several strong fronts coming this weekend. The first is a massive warm front with 1.25 inches of water value. It's going to hit this evening, lifting snow levels and causing blasting winds on the mountain. We've arrived at the finger-crossing part of this email. Snow levels are forecast to end up somewhere around 5000 feet. If all of you do your preferred method of praying (that can include sacrifices, lighting of incense, anything, please...) maybe we can keep the snow level below the base of Meadows: 5300 feet.
If we can keep the snow level there, we'll end up with 3 to 4 feet of snow, heavy snow, but snow over the course of the weekend. That will be enough to end the "early season conditions exist" mantra on the snowphone.
Next, this next storm series will bring 40+ mph sustained winds on the mountain. Tomorrow is going to be VERY windy up there. Just a warning. Since these are southerly winds, it's looking like the Gorge will miss the brunt of the blow, except perhaps for Arlington or way-out-east sites. That's good, because trees are already falling from the snowload and unfrozen ground.
Finally, the high snow levels combined with low elevation snowpack combined with lots of rain will set up the potential for floods. Bad floods. Cross your fingers that the snowpack absorbs some of the rain rather than melting everything at once.
Lots of finger crossing going on today...
Have a great day!
Print | posted @ Friday, December 26, 2008 6:36 AM