Quick update.
Telemetry is showing a slight cooling is taking place over the Sierra this morning. The Squaw base just dropped 2-3 degrees to nearly freezing in the past 3 hours. Telemetry is showing 13 inches has fallen since the lifts closed. In looking at Kirkwood and Mammoth webcams there appear to be around 7-8 inches overnight. Winds in the Alpine gusted over 110 MPH last night! These were consistent gusts above 9,000 feet. Snow will continue, heavy at times through the day and taper somewhat tonight. Expect an additional 7-14 inches of snowfall through Friday morning. Winds will begin to decrease by late in the day but remain strong. Friday might offer more terrain. For snow, quality consider higher elevation resorts (If they open) like Mount Rose that would not have seen any rain at the base. Upper elevation terrain at most ski areas will most likely not open today. That's why it's important to seek out higher elevation base elevations. KT 22 has great terrain at Squaw (Somewhat wind protected) but it's a gamble if it opens due to rising avalanche danger this morning. Temps are cooling (That's a good thing). Some folks chased to Sierra at Tahoe yesterday and said it was pretty good. Mt Rose was closed yesterday.
Mammoth is reporting 33-48 inch storm totals thus far! WOO HOO (Not much will open).
Below: Dumping at Sun Valley this morning.
In the Rockies snow if falling heavily at Sun Valley (We highlighted them on our post earlier this week). 6 inches fell overnight with decent temps at the summit (30 at the base). Snow is falling in the Tetons with models showing 4-8 inches likely during Thursday. Temps are warming slightly so quality may deteriorate slightly at lower elevations. A chase to JHMR might be decent for noon to 3:30 PM. The Wasatch gets the nasty warm SW flow temps today (Freezing level is at the bases) so lower elevation resorts like Powder or even Snowbasin, Park City may suffer in quality. SW flow will kick 4-8 inches into some of these areas late AM or early PM (Brighton may score the highest). Snowbasin is on watch? Alta and the Bird scored a sneak up powder day yesterday, but it's unlikely to repeat (Perhaps by 3 PM). SW winds will increase in Utah today so upper lifts may see some wind holds.
The Wasatch scores big time tonight with NW winds shifting decent moisture into Powder Mountain, Park City- (Canyons favored) and both BCC and LCC. Expect 9-15 inches of better quality snow for Friday morning. Snow showers tapering at some point Friday morning.
In Colorado, the GFS is still bullish for 9-14 inches for Aspen, Crested Butte, Telluride, Silverton with slightly less further south. For Summit its showing 3-6 inches. However, the Euro has downtrended amounts for the above mentioned central mountains (6-10) and increased amounts slightly for Eagle and Summit. It's possible Eagle County (Vail and Beav) score 4-9 inches mainly late AM Friday to early Saturday. Steamboat is still bullish on both models (5-10). Winter Park will fall somewhere in the middle (3-7). Regardless, Friday will be a storm day for Colorado and Saturday will offer some additional snow for your first chairs.
I am on the fly! See you somewhere this week!
EXTENDED = DEEP NEW ENGLAND STORM SUNDAY AND MORE DECENT DUMPS FOR THE NORTHERN ROCKIES SUNDAY NIGHT/MONDAY.
Powderchaser Steve
