if you aren't already knee deep in powder here's why you should be!
All the wind we just experienced in the last two days, (April 3rd and 4th), carried in plenty of new snow. Here's a round-up of 48-hour accumulation along with how much longer the ski resorts keep the lifts going.
Not unprecedented but certainly unusual! A Spring storm that brings two, to more than three, feet of snow to the Washington Cascades in the beginning of April! It's the storm that blew in wind gusts from 35 to 64 mph in the lowlands and blasted the Cascades with heavy snow and a wind gust measured at Mount Rainier of 90 mph.
So, just how much new snow amounts are the ski resorts holding to entice snow sports enthusiasts? Measurements over the last 48 hours are impressive, listed here with the base amounts today.
Starting with Alpental at 17" the numbers keep going up with the highest snow total at Mount Baker of 51 inches, that's over three feet in 48 hours!
Checking the hours of operation is the next step to dig in to the fresh powder.
Snoqualmie Central goes to weekend operation April 16th while Alpental stays open and doesn't switch to weekends until the 24th
Stevens Pass is open every day through the closing date of May 1st
Crystal Mountain, parking reservation not required now, is open until closing date of May 1
Mount Baker is open every day through April 10th and then switches to weekends through April 24th, closing day.
April snow is magic in the mountains when we can extend the hours of snow sports up high. Now we must monitor backcountry conditions while we briefly warm up. But I don't think we are done with mountain snow yet this season.
Comment: Mt. Baker in Washington reporting 51 inches of spring snowfall in 48 hours