Snow Stake Cams
Forecast Summary
We have some decent totals in the Cascades. Snoqualmie 8, Stevens Pass 5, Crystal 5, and Mt Hood 4. The storm pushes off to the east and will run thru Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. A stronger system comes thru behind it tomorrow afternoon, in the Pacific Northwest and takes a southeast track reaching Utah and Colorado Tuesday night and Wednesday.
Meteorologist Gary Lezak
Long-Range Tahoe Chart
This chart is for Jan 1 thru March, using the patent-pending LRC-model. The pattern in the first cycle provided a couple of pretty effective snow storms over the Sierra Nevada near Lake Tahoe. As we are moving through the second cycle of the LRC, La Niña, the cooling of the Tropical Pacific Ocean waters has continued and it has helped influence blocking, which is forcing most storm systems to track north of California. This will continue until near the end of the year. What is the LRC? Let’s take a look:
The LRC (Lezak’s Recurring Cycle) Explained
I have discussed, quite often, that the LRC is mother nature. What Gary has figured out, and I have learned, is that the LRC dictates all of these influences, the Artic Oscillation (AO) , North American Oscillation (NAO), Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO) and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO).
The LRC is the centerpiece of all of these oscillations.
We (scientists) have figured out, over the last 100 years, all of these above teleconnections oscillate and flow from one state to another. For thousands of years people have studied meteorology and haven’t figured out that mother nature, oscillates. Thats what we are bringing to you. We have figured out a small piece of the big picture, and that small piece can tell you months in advance when storm systems will come. We are working on solving a bigger piece of the puzzle.
Forecast
Pacific Northwest
Today, cold and sunny for the northern Cascades with light winds, windchills around zero. Lingering snow showers in the southern Cascades with strong wind gusts in the 30’s.
Tomorrow, the next wave rolls into Oregon after 10 am and Washington by early evening. Temperatures in the mid 20’s to around 30 for Oregon resorts, with light to moderate winds. Snowfall totals Tuesday will be in the 2-4 range for Mt Hood with another 1-2 overnight. Mt Bachelor is in a bad spot for this one, not much snow is expected, maybe an inch or two, but freezing rain is possible, so prepare accordingly.
Higher totals expected for Washington resorts, Crystal Mountain 5-9 after the lifts close. Snoqualmie 4-8 after 1 pm, with another 4-8 Tuesday night. Similar numbers for Stevens Pass with less accumulation overnight, in the 2-4 range.
The storm moves out Wednesday leaving behind cold temps with clearing skies. Light winds with windchills near zero.
Utah
Sunny skies today with clouds moving in tomorrow. Temps in the mid to lower 20’s with winds around 10 mph. Cold windchills near aero. The storm moves in tomorrow night, around midnight. It looks like Alta and Snowbird will be in the 4-8 range, before the lifts open Wednesday, with an additional 3-5 overnight.
Brighton and Park City get underway after 5 am Wednesday. We are looking at daytime totals in the 2-4 range with another 2-4 overnight.
Colorado
Colorado gets in on the action Tuesday night and into Wednesday. This storm is presently favoring the central and northern mountains, as you can see from the chart above. The totals are looking very similar to the last time this storm came thru back in early November. We will go into more detail tomorrow.
Thanks for reading the blog, as always if you have any questions, please ask in the comments below or send an email to Mike@FutureSnow.CO
Forecasted Areas
Pacific Northwest Cascade Mountains
Crystal Mountain, Mount Hood Meadows, Timberline, 49 Degrees North, Bachelor, Mt Baker,
Lake Tahoe Sierra Mountains
Heavenly, Palisades Tahoe, Kirkwood, Dodge Ridge, Donner Ski Ranch
Utah Wasatch Mountains
Alta, Park City, Deer Valley, Brighton, Snowbird, Brian Head
Colorado Rocky Mountains
Aspen, Aspen Highlands, Snowmass, Vail, Beaver Creek, Winter Park, Keystone, Arapahoe Basin, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Powderhorn, Ski Cooper, Telluride, Crested Butte, Silverton, Wolf Creek, Eldora, Loveland
