Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Yes rain is still unavoidable but we steal a powder day Thursday

With the snow under the single "preserved" one extra day there were some epic turns to be had Tuesday and it looks like plenty of skiers enjoyed it. On Wednesday it will be more of the same with great visibility, little if any wind and at the minimum, a half a day of sunshine before clouds from our next approaching system envelop the region.

Our next storm has been talked about for several posts and mostly in an unflattering way. Overall the storm still looks rather "unflattering" yet the surge of colder weather now firmly entrenched over the region will not give it up so easily this time. This essentially will equate to an extra day of great turns and some fresh powder as well as precipitation Thursday will begin around daybreak in the form of snow. The snow should fall steadily and for much of the day. The question during the day involves the personality of the snow Thursday since temperatures will gradually rise throughout the day as the cold air erodes. It appears for at least Thursday morning that the snow will remain dry with temperatures in the low to mid 20's. Later in the day temperatures are expected to approach the freezing mark and if the snow is still falling it will turn wet. Then we go to freezing rain and rain but not until 4-7 inches of additional snow and not until after closing.

The rain is going to be a steady one and at times a heavy one with over an inch expected. Temperatures will approach the 40 degree mark with dewpoints not far behind so it will not completely devastate the base, but over an inch of rain is significant and it will certainly leave its mark.

The rain will be over and done with Friday evening and will be replaced by flurries and snow showers Friday night into early Saturday. In the wake of all the rain comes a clipper system, a system that is likely to dump most of its moisture on the Great Lakes before diving southeast. There may not be much moisture available to us but whatever is left will fall in the form of snow showers on Sunday along with below freezing temperatures. The cold weather will perist through Tuesday and then we can expect a big thaw consisting of temperatures in the 40's and 50's and perhaps some more rain late in the week. The surge of warmth next week will coincide with a long awaited switch in our teleconnection indices. This should encourage some interesting weather for the last 10 days of the month but we will see.

1 comment:

Doug said...

so there is no chance that this rain will turn to snow like the previous storm??