Christmas Eve began stunningly, bright blue skies and a stark white mountain with snowy spin drift spooling off the ridgelines from the strong W-SW wind. By mid-morning, clouds and fog enveloped the area and light snow began. It was a steady trickle of snow over the day/night. New snow totals over the past 24 hours are as follows:
- Old Ski Bowl ~ 5 inches
- Castle Lake ~ 6 inches
- Mt Eddy ~ 9 inches
- Ash Creek Butte ~ 1.5 inches
Over on the west side of the freeway in the Eddy Mountains, new snow totals over the past 24 hours are almost double what Shasta observed.
On Gray Butte, the wind has been steady, W-SW, moderate to strong, averaging 20 mi/hr with gusts into the 30-40 mi/hr range. Max gusts reached 61. Temperatures have been chilly, max daytime highs reached 26 F near treeline.
The zipper crust remains below ~7,000 feet, but above, softer snow can be found. Yesterday up along Green Butte ridge and Broadway, a couple of local skiers reported good conditions near and below treeline with moderate westerly wind. Stomping along small cornices and test slopes, the skiers were not able to trigger anything eyebrow raising. They did see something that looked like an avalanche crown over to the west, in the Anaconda drainage, but it was difficult to say for certain.
Christmas Eve morning, what began as an incredible blue bird day, quickly became socked in with clouds. [Photo: Chris Carr, Shasta Mtn Guides]
We are in another lull between the storms this morning. This will give Santa a much-needed break for the end of his rounds, though last I heard, Rudolph was shining bright. Precipitation today will be more showery, with some breaks of sun between the showers. Temperatures will remain cold and continue this way for the time being, and thus snow levels are low. Expect travel impacts over the holiday weekend. It's been super windy above treeline on the mountain. Models show this W-SW flow to continue for the next couple of days. Wind chill factors are well below zero and cold, snowy and windy weather should not be taken lightly on Mount Shasta. Despite being just off the Interstate, it's the real deal up there. A winter storm warning remains in effect until 10 AM PST Monday.