Palmer Drought Index... so far.

 Greetings all, 

Well, winds have ravaged the BC pow quite a bit but there are isolated pockets of good snow still waiting out there if you hunt and peck. The actual surface conditions will remain quite good on the groomers in the morning and in the trees through the middle of the week. Get your turns in now tho as Juneuary is about to descend upon us late this week and through the weekend. Expect highs in the 60's in the valleys and 50's up in the hills. This will not be good for an already meager snowpack. With temps too high at night to make snow, you can expect to see skid marks again rear their ugly faces, especially on any slopes getting more direct sun exposure (like Silver Face). 

Tahoe is now approaching and will reach less than 50% snowpack average in places this week. Our fall quarter snowfall was weak in Tahoe and much of the West and improvement is not forecast anytime soon. The Palmer Drought Index kind of says it all. Green and blue is good, yellow, red and brown, not so much. Although the upcoming weather may be pleasant for bike riding and other traditional summertime activities, it will not be good for the snowpack or any sports conducted on it. Looking past this week signals for late January continue to show dry and warmer than average conditions. 

My point: ski while you can.


Sven



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