Thread: 11/12 Mt. Hood

245 AM PST SAT DEC 24 2011

.SYNOPSIS...A WETTER AND MORE ACTIVE WEATHER REGIME WILL TAKE HOLD
AS A SERIES OF PACIFIC FRONTS MOVE INTO THE AREA ON A STRENGTHENING
JET STREAM. THE FIRST FRONT WILL BRING SOME LIGHT RAIN TO MAINLY THE
NORTHERN HALF OF THE AREA THIS MORNING. A STRONGER FRONT WILL MOVE
THROUGH THE AREA ON SUNDAY. AN EVEN STRONGER AND WETTER FRONT WILL
MOVE THROUGH THE AREA LATER MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT.

&&

.SHORT TERM...THE LAST GASP OF UPPER LEVEL RIDGING EXTENDING FROM
WASHINGTON SOUTHWARD INTO THE PACIFIC OFF CALIFORNIA IS WEAKENING AS
A STRONG ZONAL FLOW TAKES HOLD OVER THE PACIFIC. BY THE MIDDLE TO
END OF NEXT WEEK...A RATHER CONSOLIDATED JET WILL EXTEND ACROSS THE
LENGTH OF THE PACIFIC ALL THE WAY FROM EAST CENTRAL CHINA INTO
WESTERN WASHINGTON.

A WEAK WARM FRONT EXTENDING FROM THE NORTHWEST OREGON COAST
NORTHWESTWARD INTO THE PACIFIC WILL LIFT NORTHWARD ACROSS THE AREA
THIS MORNING AND ONTO VANCOUVER ISLAND BY LATER THIS AFTERNOON.
RADARS SHOW LIGHT RAIN MOVING ONTO THE OLYMPIC PENINSULA AND INTO
THE NORTH CASCADES WITH RAIN SHADOWING SEEN TO THE EAST OF THE
OLYMPIC MOUNTAINS AND VANCOUVER ISLAND MOUNTAINS. EXPECT MOST AREAS
TO SEE SOME RAIN THIS MORNING BUT WITH RATHER LIGHT AMOUNTS EAST OF
THE COASTAL TERRAIN. ONCE THE WARM FRONT MOVES TO THE NORTH...RAIN
WILL COME TO AN END AND TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO POP INTO THE
LOWER 50S...QUITE MILD FOR LATE DECEMBER.

TONIGHT WILL BE MAINLY CLOUDY. MOISTURE IN THE LOWER LEVELS AND SOME
RADIATIONAL COOLING WILL GIVE AREAS OF FOG TO THE SOUTH PUGET SOUND
AREA AND VALLEYS OF THE SOUTH INTERIOR. RAIN CHANCES WILL INCREASE
ALONG THE COAST TOWARD MORNING AS THE NEXT FRONT NOW SEEN NEAR 140W
APPROACHES.

A PASSING COLD FRONT ON CHRISTMAS DAY WILL BRING ANOTHER SHOT OF
RAINFALL AND LOCALLY BREEZY CONDITIONS IN THE NORTH INTERIOR. WHILE
THIS FRONT WILL BE STRONGER THAN WHAT WE HAVE SEEN IN ABOUT A
MONTH...IT REALLY WILL JUST BE A RUN-OF-THE-MILL FRONT FOR THIS TIME
OF YEAR. SNOW LEVELS IN THE MOUNTAINS WILL START OUT HIGH SUNDAY
MORNING...THEN WILL DROP TO PASS LEVEL DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS.
SNOWFALL AMOUNTS DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS AND WITH POST FRONTAL
SHOWERS SUNDAY NIGHT ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN BELOW ADVISORY CRITERIA.

LATE SUNDAY AND MUCH OF MONDAY WILL BE CLOUDY BUT MAINLY DRY AS
BRIEF WEAK SHORT WAVE RIDGING PASSES ACROSS THE AREA. ALBRECHT

.LONG TERM...STRONG ZONAL FLOW WILL BRING A SERIES OF VIGOROUS
SYSTEMS ACROSS THE AREA DURING THE UPCOMING WEEK...ONE ABOUT EVERY
24 HOURS. THE SYSTEMS FOR MONDAY NIGHT...LATER TUESDAY INTO
WEDNESDAY...AND FRIDAY WILL BRING MODERATE TO LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN AT
TIMES TO THE OLYMPIC PENINSULA AND LOWER WEST SLOPES OF THE
CASCADES. BY MID TO LATE WEEK...HEAVY SNOW MAY BECOME AN ISSUE IN
THE MOUNTAINS ABOVE ABOUT 3000 FEET. THE ECMWF IN PARTICULAR...SHOWS
SYSTEMS LATER IN THE WEEK ASSOCIATED WITH 140-160 KT 300 MB JET
STREAKS AND GIVING LOCALLY WINDY TO VERY WINDY CONDITIONS TO
PORTIONS OF THE AREA. THERE IS A GOOD DEAL OF UNCERTAINTY IN THE
FORECAST DETAILS AT THIS TIME...BUT THESE SYSTEMS WILL NEED TO BE
MONITORED. ALBRECHT


From the post above, I got lucky on this observation. Thank you Baby Jesus............

^^^ I like it! Although sounds like the bulk of the moisture won't come until later in the week and I'll be gone. I'm still debating on heading up tomorrow or Tuesday. Any thoughts on which day will be better?

Tuesday Bob. Should see +6" new. Wed. 7k FL., Rest of wk. lowering FL 4-5K.

I would just like to thank Sgt. Skidmark for his sacrifice. We made it up around 2 this afternoon, braved the 40mph winds for a few hours. We will be there first thing in the am....

tonight lift ops shut it down around 7ish and the bowls were looking and skiing awesome.

I am going to be up there Friday, no two ways about it.

Originally Posted by drdevon

I am going to be up there Friday, no two ways about it.

I hear you. Pulling a later start to close at bachelor tommorow...

high winds friday in addition to the big dump
my prediction: sat morn FTW, when they open lifts and slopes worth skiing
get there early...it's going to be busy and a lot of folks are blue-ballin for some pow

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-no..._below_av.html


Oregon's snowpack well below average, but officials say there's plenty of time to catch up
Published: Thursday, December 29, 2011, 5:45 PM Updated: Thursday, December 29, 2011, 6:09 PM
Kate Mather, The Oregonian By Kate Mather, The Oregonian

Where's the snow? Lower-than-normal snowpack levels have skiers and snowboarders griping, but officials say there's plenty of time for flurries to fall. Earlier this month, grass could be seen poking out of the snow at the Timberline Ski Area.
Snow has been slow to fall in Oregon this year, and official snowpack readings Thursday validated the gripes of skies and snowboarders.

Jon Lea, a hydrologist with the U.S. Natural Resources Conversation Service in Portland, made a morning trek to a Mount Hood Sno-Tel site below Timberline Lodge to measure the snowpack. It read at half of normal levels for this time of year.

The snow was about 41 inches deep, about 54 percent of average. About 91 inches of snow were measured at the same spot last year, Lea said.

"Last year we had a very, very snowy December," he said. "We started off really good this year and then we had this very, very dry December come along."

The dry spell affected snow levels across the state: Oregon is at 43 percent of its average snowfall.

Washington has had better luck. Though eastern parts of the state are drier than the North Cascades and Puget Sound, overall Washington is at 81 percent of its average snowfall.

A significant portion of the western United States' water supply for drinking, farming, recreation and other uses comes from melting snow in the summer. However, Lea said the season's low numbers aren't anything to worry about yet.

Typically about 40 percent of the maximum snowpack comes by Jan. 1, he said, meaning there's plenty of time for the flakes to fall.

"We have a long ways of winter left to go," he said.

"As we were finishing up at the site, it started to snow, so the storm that was predicted to come did. It's exactly what we need to get the snowpack to build back up."

-- Kate Mather

© 2011 OregonLive.com. All rights reserved.

HRM storm recovery for 5 inches? WTF???? Someone explain this one to me.

Originally Posted by Patarero

HRM storm recovery for 5 inches? WTF???? Someone explain this one to me.

lolz.

1234

all kinds of excitement today...

**Two separate accidents on Hwy 35 coming from Govy. Both directions of traffic are blocked.

Hope you all got some today. Great turns to be had at bachelor today.

Jonesy, my mission will be to buy you a beer this season. Too many failed attempts of meeting the last few years. Enjoy tomorrow...I will be driving back to the wrong side of the mountains.

On a side note, my beginner daughter had her first real powder turns today. Could not stop smiling all day. Every run, "wow...this is amazing" She claims, top 5 day lifetime. (not just riding the mountain...) I remember how that was...nice to live vicariously though the younger ones!

Free refills all afternoon, walked onto the lifts after about 1:00.

It was full-on nuclear winter when I left around 3:45. Tomorrow is going to be really, really good.

Crazy day. Legs toast. Good times.

Any guesses on the opening of PR or HC?

I heard traffic was dirty. Probably the same tomorrow. I am going to tape the shit out of my foot injury and get up there. Been a while since the forecast looked like this. Looking forward to skiing!

Night skiing at meadows did not suck. Still puking on last run!

All lots full at 9:15. I'm so glad I went for the free refills last night.

Originally Posted by SgtSkidmark

All lots full at 9:15. I'm so glad I went for the free refills last night.

Bachy

http://distilleryimage3.instagram.co...3804ec91_7.jpg

Originally Posted by ski_pdx

http://distilleryimage3.instagram.co...3804ec91_7.jpg

gorgeous

^like it. Member when the bridge got taken out?

Originally Posted by jonesy

Bachy

i hope to be in that pic -- with shorter lines -- this week. if only there were more snow on the way...

Originally Posted by jonesy

^like it. Member when the bridge got taken out?

three days after i got my season pass. remember dave riley?

thanks. thought these were pretty cool too. taken on my phone from the back seat on the way up this morning.