Courtesy Theo Rich, Sun Valley

Summary

From peaceful and quiet to full-on playground, Sun Valley has it all.  It's time to enjoy the calm before the storm as we will begin to ramp up this week and next. The storm cycle we've been waiting for La Nina to deliver will arrive full-on next Monday but in the meantime, expect a dose of fresh snow later this week, just in time for the weekend.

Short-Term

High pressure is on it's way out today.  Starting out with a chilly 15 degrees this morning, we'll see some cloud cover increasing overhead throughout the day and tomorrow as well. This will bring in a little fresh snow on Thursday night and Friday - on the order of about 4 to 6 inches. That will have to hold us over until next Monday's storm unfolds.

Extended Forecast

Take a look at the 10-day snow forecast for Sun Valley. Notice the gradual increasing slope, that means it's all looking up for the extended period. I think that since the mean value (Green bars in the graph below) are higher than the forecast amounts from the European EPS model (the Blue bars below), that means we are confidently looking at close to a foot of snow next week.

It doesn't stop there, folks. The extended outlooks are all aligned with the storm we've been waiting for all winter, actually a whole bunch of them. The snow should be excellent for the January 27 Banked Slalom event at Sun Valley!

January 29 through February 3

I realize this is a long way out, but there may be a couple day break over the weekend of the 27th and 28th, then a really strong storm punching in for the week of the 29th (Shown in Bright Green colors by the trough above). 

Even though this part of the forecast has the most uncertainty right now, it could potentially become the biggest powder maker we've seen all year, so it bears watching.

Stay tuned for updates and thank you for reading.

COLEEN HASKELL

January 27 Baldy Banked Slalom Event

https://www.facebook.com/idaradomedia/videos/1577501859010270/

 

Heads-up in the Backcountry - There is still Considerable danger in all zones

https://www.sawtoothavalanche.com/adv-full.php