24 Hour Snow: 0" 72 Hour Snow: 0" Season Total Snow: 21" Depth at Gold Basin: 14"
Winds on Pre-Laurel Peak: S 25-30 G 38 Temp: 37° F
Weather
Under scattered clouds, it is still quite warm in Gold Basin with a temperature of 37°F this morning. Skies will become mostly cloudy, with temperatures hovering around the mid-30s°F. Winds will blow out of the south at 15-20 MPH, with gusts reaching up to 35 MPH. There is a 30% chance of precipitation today, with little to no accumulation expected. The rain/snow line could be as high as 10,000 feet. The bulk of the precipitation is expected tomorrow afternoon. Even so, mountain temperatures will remain warm, and the rain/snow line will be around 9,000 feet on Thursday. 1 -3 inches of accumulation is expected on Thursday afternoon. Winds out of the south will remain elevated throughout the storm, averaging 15-25 MPH with gusts up to 40 MPH. Expect a slight lull in the weather on Friday, with another push of moisture coming Friday evening. Temperatures are expected to drop on Friday night into Saturday, and we could see additional light accumulations on Saturday. We'll have a better idea of the weekend storm by Friday's update.
General Conditions
Today is a good day to finish up your last-minute holiday shopping and gift wrapping. Hopefully, we get a decent refresh for the weekend. The snow surface has taken quite a beating. It has been over three weeks since our last accumulating snowfall, and during that time, we have seen strong winds from all directions, plenty of sunshine, and record warm temperatures. Many solar aspects are melted down to the rocks and are no longer skiable. High elevation northerlies have been stripped by the wind, but out of the wind zone, polar aspects are still holding 12-24 inches of snow. The recent warm temperatures and thin cloud cover have caused the surface snow on these slopes to gain just the slightest bit of density. However, the snowpack is still made up entirely of facets. This structure is likely to become our next persistent weak layer problem. It appears the Christmas storm will not drop enough snow to create a slab, but backcountry travelers should be alert to changing conditions. This is our first storm in quite some time, and the avalanche danger can increase with just a few inches of snow and moderate to strong winds.
Eric has a nice video describing the snowpack ahead of the incoming storm.
Snowpack and Weather Data
