Sunday morning update:
President Day Powder Sale – the Alert continues…
How do we do it? Volume, Volume, Volume!
I’ve been pounding the drum re this upcoming segment of this extended powder alert for many days now, so here we go. Good dumpage of quality and quantity this morning with lower snow levels. It’s a GO for today through the week! There are some ridge top winds, they have decreased, but will crank up again tonight and Tuesday
Expect an improving powder pattern ahead. A dump of two to five feet of snow in the Cascades Sunday through Wednesday is not unreasonable – all with lowering snow levels. This is a sure bet, with high certainty. Therefore, I am all in. Go Seahawks! So sorry, that was residual Super Bowl enthusiasm feedback from a couple of weeks ago.
Yes, we’ve had a great round of snow the last five days with improved coverage and depth, but one issue has put a minor bummer on the fun. That has been the occasional, slightly higher snow level of 3000-4500ft. That issue has produced a rain/snow mix on the lower slopes and areas of grabby snow on the mid mountain. It was all good, but not ideal. That is behind us now. Near ideal is now the new program, as snow levels are lowering.
The previous mild airflow was coming from near Hawaii the last few days causing that minor snow level issue. We have; literally, a change is in the wind to facilitate this improvement. Today and the week ahead the airflow will be more from WNW, importing cooler temperatures from the Gulf of Alaska. That minor change in wind direction means the snow level will lower, improving quality. Snowfall will be heavy, while several feet of quality snow will fall between Sunday and Wednesday, with decreasing amounts Wed. The storm Sunday night and Monday will have high ridge top winds and could mean partial closures/ chair slow downs and other snow management issues. The jet stream will be aimed at us, assisting in the Cascade snow production while complementing the ridge top winds. Below ridges should be ok in many areas.
All days will be good to great. This pattern is really as good as it gets for the NW, but the colder temperatures do start to dry out the air with less snowfall over time. There is a sweet spot with this circulation and that is Monday -Wednesday, therefore I may be AWOL. I know a good powder pattern when I see it. This will be best of the season and will put the E in epic for the Cascades.
Your Grand Poobah
