0400 temp. at 6350′ in Carnelian Bay: 22.6 deg. w/ 73% RH and 15.3 deg. dew point

0515 temp. at 8650′ Mt. Rose backcountry TH: 10 deg.

Backcountry obs.:

It’s not often that storms deliver a foot of Utah-like blower pow to Tahoe. It’s even rarer for a storm to deliver almost entirely on the east side of the lake, with nearly nothing on the crest. The storm over the past weekend delivered both rarities.

On Sun morning (1/26) the Rose backcountry hosted anywhere from 10-14″ of light, dry powder as light snow continued falling throughout the morning with generally light winds. Near and below treeline, delicate, blower powder adorned each tree branch and smoothed out every abuse and imperfection in the haggard, weeks old snow surface. Despite the quantity of new snow, the incredibly light density skied as though nearly nothing rested atop. What deceit!

Beware: sharks lurk! Stumps and rocks previously visible above the snow, are now buried beneath a foot of pixie dust that behaves more like thick surface fog from a smoke machine on a dance floor than a riding surface.

As such, the new snow bonded poorly to old surfaces creating plentiful sluffing in steep terrain, but not enough to entrain a skier or bury a person.

By Monday morning, continued cold temps kept the snow light, fluffy and barely notable underfoot below treeline. Near treeline, N-E aspects had subtle wind effect and some very light rime atop the new snow, adding a bit more density underfoot between skier and hard surfaces beneath. Above treeline zones on N-E aspects were largely wind scoured down to cold, hard crusts.

Weather and forecast thoughts:

The storm that dropped the surprise amount of powder slowly exited the region early this morning (1/27) leaving cool temps, clear skies, and building inversions in its wake. Cold temps should prevail in the backcountry throughout the week.

By next weekend, models now agree on a pattern change bringing Pacific moisture back to the Sierra starting over the weekend and possibly persisting into the following week.

Details are still hazy regarding timing, intensity, and snow levels. However, at this point the first round looks relatively mild with snow levels at or above lake level, at least initially.

As the pattern evolves, cooler air may filter into subsequent disturbances later next week, bringing snow levels down.

Uncertainty is still high regarding details, but for now, it looks like the atmosphere may indeed crack a cold one to commemorate the end of dry January.