Category: Forecast

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Good morning!

Every once in a while the sun comes out during a Pacific Northwest winter. If you’d like to see the sun today, head up to the mountains, where the sun will shine for a good part of the day.

It looks like high pressure will keep us sunny today and possibly part of tomorrow (although high clouds look more likely on the hill tomorrow). We’re not going to see much if any precipitation, either in the Gorge or on the mountain, through tomorrow evening. Between now and then, we’re going to see east winds pick up through the Gorge in response to high pressure in the desert and a strong upper level low off the coast.

Easterlies slowly build tomorrow into the 20-25 range at Stevenson and 25-30 range at Rooster, but by early Saturday morning, we’ll see east winds in excess of 40mph at Rooster. Starting between 5 and 7am Saturday morning, all hell breaks loose in the Gorge, with a mix freezing rain (western Gorge) and snow (HR, HRV, Odell and Parkdale). At this point, a deep, cold air mass in the desert suggests we’ll see snow down to river level all day on Saturday with several inches (or more) of accumulation.

Bad news in the Gorge is good news on the mountain, where snow begins falling around 7am on Saturday. The deep cold pool is a bit of a concern, as there’s a slight chance of a significant wind event on Saturday morning. By Sunday morning, we’ll have 10-12” of new. The bulk of that new snow will fall before 7pm on Saturday. A break overnight Saturday gives way to more snow starting early morning Sunday, with a total of 4-6” of new by 7pm. Snow levels during this period will be at or below 2000 feet. Winds on Saturday (assuming we don’t see some sort of rare downslope event) will be in the 20-25 range. Sunday winds will be in the 15-20mph range. We’ll see more snow overnight Sunday, but I’m not guessing on amounts, as model variations are … variable.

If you’re going to be up skiing on Sunday, check out the NW Demo Tour at Meadows. There will be a ton of free ski and snowboard demos. If you haven’t had a chance to try any of the new rockered skis and snowboards, this is your chance. Be prepared to fall in love with some new gear.

Have an awesome day today!

Temira

p.s. If you find this report useful, entertaining, or just want to recognize all the hard work that goes into it, please take the time to make a donation by clicking on the button at the bottom of the page. For a suggested donation of $10, I’ll add you to the email version of this list ‘til November 2011, putting you in the running for cool prizes donated by the weekly sponsors.

The Clymb: free membership.
Access to super cheap gear including Trew, Zeal, Sierra Designs, and many more.

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Good morning!

The Pineapple Express has left the station and returned to Maui (I think Jane Parker rode it straight to Kanaha), leaving behind a trail of high-water rivers and powder on the slopes.

As of last night, the White Salmon was at 6 feet, the Hood was at 7.0, and the Klickitat was at 4270cfs.

And as of this morning, there was 11” of new snow at Meadows. Even little Skibowl had half a foot of fresh. Reports from last night suggest Skibowl needs a little more snow to cover the Pineapple Crust, but that Meadows is in good shape, with only scattered areas of PC.

Conditions at Meadows and T-Line today will be excellent, with winds in the 15-20 range and light snow showers during the day, for an additional 4-5 inches of snow. If you’re going to MHM, don’t expect Cascade or Upper Heather first thing, as there’s a lot of digging and other work to be done before Cascade opens up. However, there’s plenty of other excellent skiing up there right now.

Tomorrow look like another nice day on the slopes. Early morning snow showers bring 3-5” of snow and then give way to a cloudy/partly cloudy day, with 10-15mph wind, followed by more snow after 4pm.

Sometime tomorrow, an upper level low sets up off the coast, inducing strong east winds through the Gorge. That brings a chance for two things: first, you can go windsurfing or kiting, and second, you might see snow or sleet in the Gorge Friday night.

Tomorrow night brings another round of heavy snow to the mountains. 6-9” seems likely by Saturday morning. Snow showers continue through the day, and then another round of heavy snow hits early Sunday morning, for another 6-9” during the day Sunday. Winds will be in the 15-25mph range both Saturday and Sunday on the slopes.

Have an awesome day today!

Temira

p.s. If you find this report useful, entertaining, or just want to recognize all the hard work that goes into it, please take the time to make a donation by clicking on the button at the bottom of the page. For a suggested donation of $10, I’ll add you to the email version of this list ‘til November 2011, putting you in the running for cool prizes donated by the weekly sponsors.