Summary

The tenth day in a deluge of moist Pacific storms will deliver another 1 to 2 feet of heavy, wet, snow and gusty southwest winds to the higher elevations of the mountains, with rain falling below about 7,000 feet. By Friday night the tide will turn toward a drier regime that will continue for about 6 days or so, before the next storm cycle spins up next weekend. In the meantime, we will see temperature inversions forming next week, with warm temperatures on the trails, and cold, cloudy weather in the mountain valleys. Short Term Forecast Sure, a bunch of snow (8 to 12”) fell at our mountain resorts yesterday, but the bummer part is that it is getting rained on today as snow levels rise. The backcountry scored a ton of new moisture, up to 20” and at least that much more will fall between now and Saturday morning, but the heavy, unstable nature of this snowpack, combined with strong winds is just plain dangerous and many of the access roads are closed for safety and avalanche mitigation work.

Update