A beautiful, cold snow began to fall yesterday around noon. It looks like we may have a couple of new inches up at the Old Ski Bowl now. Castle Lake got about 1/2 of an inch.
Temperatures have steadily dropped from 20 to 8 ºF. Wind chills dropped to -5 ºF. Sustained northwest winds reached 31 mi/hr and gusted to 55.
If you like skiing on cobble-stones, you would have loved conditions yesterday. Snow surfaces are hard and roughened by wind, sun, tracks, and dirt. Below treeline, wind-felled tree debris is everywhere. Above treeline, there is plenty of exposed ground and rock. Though the new snow may have smoothed things out a bit, it will not have covered obstacles. See the picture below of the state of the Old Ski Bowl as the storm was beginning.
Old Ski Bowl at Start of the Storm
Mountain Weather:
Colder air continues to move in from the north. A cold front will bring record lows tomorrow. Snow levels will be under 1000 ft.
Winds are subsiding. Northwest winds will be moderate in exposed areas up high. Wind chills will penetrate to the core.
Snow showers will persist today dropping intermittently from broken clouds near the 10,000 ft level. Up to an inch is possible by tonight.
Clear conditions will begin late tonight and continue into the weekend.
Today 7-8 Weather :
A 30 percent chance of snow showers, mainly before 10 a.m. Partly sunny.
Today 7-8 Wind Direction:
NW
Today 8-9 Weather:
A 30 percent chance of snow showers, mainly before 10 a.m. Areas of blowing snow. Partly sunny and cold. Dangerous wind chills. Blustery.