Sunday will be our last regularly scheduled daily forecast.
Geyser Pass Road: A few inches of snow will quickly melt off today creating muddy conditions.
Grooming: Gavin pulled an all-nighter last night and all trails are groomed for the weekend!
6:00 a.m. Snow and Weather Data
24 Hour Snow 3" 72 Hour Snow 7" Season Total Snow 322" Base Depth at Gold Basin 96"
Temp 14°F Winds on Pre-Laurel Peak: NW 25-30 G 40
Weather
Sunny skies are on tap through the weekend as a transient ridge builds over the region. High temps today will climb into the mid 30's, and up into the mid 40's on Sunday. The only fly in today's ointment is the pesky NW winds. They started ramping up yesterday evening, averaging 25-30 mph for the last six hours along ridge tops. They should back off some as the day gets going. After Sunday's peak warm up, cooler temperatures and an unsettled pattern return for next week.
6"-8" of new snow since Thursday night should make for some pretty good conditions today in areas that haven't been affected by the NW winds. Hopefully they haven't damaged things too much. On the flip side, fresh slabs of drifted snow exist on slopes facing north through east through south above treeline. The new snow may not bond well to the underlying crust, and the slick surface may allow slabs to break wider than expected. Suspect slopes that have about 8" or more of drifted snow. The new snow will be at it's most vulnerable when the sun hits it today, and we could see some small, direct action, loose wet sluffs on sun exposed slopes. These shouldn't be too problematic, but it's good policy to avoid steep slopes that have been too long under the sun this time of year.
Snowpack and Weather Data