Here we go again...
This storm will produce near the same wind issues that we saw behind the Presidents' Week storm just a few weeks ago. There will be some snow also, but it will be redistributed by the wind, variable in density (technical) and hard to reach without lifts on some of the taller mountains. Thursday is a good opportunity for many though visibility and mist will be an issue on some taller mountains, but it will be a hell of a lot better than Friday and Saturday when things refreeze and the wind blows strong, and we may have some wind issues also on Sunday. You can definitely ski, but you have to choose wisely.
One of my new sayings this year is never hunt just the snowfall map, and Snowology can probably save you time, frustration, and money; substantial amounts of money in fact. Despite a few people on the other end of the table who live in the old days thinking that Snowology reduces business for ski areas, it's just the opposite because we also encourage people to get it when it's good and most weather coverage doesn't pay a lot of attention to the smaller storms that can pay off big. It's better to have people enjoying every visit, and happy skiers are happy customers of course.
We'll start with the broad view from the ECMWF covering Thursday through Sunday.
I'm going to break the coverage down into the Thursday-Friday Outlook and then the Saturday-Sunday Outlook. Both sections will contain more detailed information on the precipitation and wind, as well as a discussion of conditions. It's going to be a tough Friday and Saturday for big mountain skiing and riding, but Thursday and Sunday will have plenty of opportunity and the small mountains are often great alternatives on those windy days.
