I seriously hope you’re reading this on the mountain today, blowing away the light and fluffy powder that’s been gracing and will continue to grace the slopes of Oregon through Christmas Eve.
WOW. What a week. Timberline picked up 24 inches in 24 hours Tuesday. And the best part is the snow level is between 1,000 and 2,000 feet, which is EXACTLY where we want it for high quality snow. Bases are pushing 100 inches in the Cascades now.
Don’t forget the goggles, you’ll need them. Sticking near the trees is a good idea as the snow will be less wind-packed there, but make sure you avoid the tree wells. It’ll be deep, awkward wallow getting out of those.
So Merry Christmas, it’s new, it’s deep and it’s light and fluffy. And it’s all over the state.
The snow will keep flying Wednesday and Wednesday night. Thursday will be the best powder day in Oregon in over two years! Pick your resort, it doesn’t really matter what part of the state you’re in because this cold northwesterly flow is hammering all of Oregon ‘s mountains. Expect at least another foot around Mt Hood, and a foot to 18 inches in central and southern Oregon. NE Oregon will see a solid 8 inches and possibly more.
And then, some Christmas magic will bring a bluebird powder day on Christmas Day as the clouds begins to clear. This has always been one of my favorite days to ski as the crowds tend to be down. And it’s stays cold, so the leftovers from the deep snowfall will remain fresh through Saturday.
This is the best Christmas skiing Oregon has had in years!
Looking ahead, we get a weaker storm arriving Sunday to refresh the freshies. This will probably drop somewhere between 3 and 7 inches of new snow, but the snow level only rises to about 3,500 feet, so the snow stays in great shape.
There may be a brief warm up around New Years, but the snow level will drop again over the first weekend of 2016, so I’m not overly concerned about a big warm up.
Happy Holidays everyone, drive safely and I’ll see you on the slopes!
Matt Zaffino
KGW Chief Meteorologist
