It has been a crazy week on the east side of the North Cascades! We've had a ton of snow, rain, and snow! All the moisture is great news on all fronts but no one likes the rain in winter! Good news is that we are cooling off again and have more cold snow in the forecast! Here are the details:
- Nordic conditions should improve dramatically by Thursday. We have had almost 2 feet of snow fall on the valley floor before it turned to rain on Tuesday. Cooling temperatures should reveal near perfect Nordic skiing before the weekend.
- Highway 20 is now closed at the Early Winters Gate just 1 mile west of Mazama. The snow is wet and deep near the valley floor and I would anticipate large debris piles above Cutthroat.
- WA Pass and Harts Pass both received over 6" of water equivalency in the past week. The base depth at Washington Pass (5,450 feet) went from 43" to 85". It rained for several hours on Tuesday up to Pass levels but turned to snow again and at least 16" of snow fell after the rain.
- We have a forecast for an additional 1-2 feet of snow above 5,000' with colder temps over the next several days. With some time to settle, the ski conditions should be fantastic for the weekend!
- This is a huge load on the early season base that was built of facets and crust layers. Use caution in avalanche terrain. The good news is that there is plenty of snow to ski in the trees now!
As always, give us a call with questions or observations.
And if you want the Goat's Beard to remain in business, shop local for things you need. We will match prices for identical size/model to encourage you to NOT shop online!
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