Snoqualmie Pass Real Estate, Snoqualmie Pass Properties, Snoqualmie Pass Homes, Snoqualmie Pass Lots, North Bend Real Estate, Snoqualmie Real Estate, Carnation Real Estate, Suncadia Real Estate, Easton Real Estate, ThomasWolter.com, http://www.snoqualmiepassliving.com
'Godzilla' El Nino not really a death sentence for local ski resorts
»PLAY VIDEO
News sites (and weather blogs) have been filled with stories about how the raging El Niño in the South-Central Pacific Ocean is set to rival, if not surpass the strongest event on record in 1997 and have accompanied daunting forecasts of what could happen in El Niño years.
For the Pacific Northwest, El Niño years have typically meant warmer and drier winters with less than average mountain snowpacks, and the long range forecastshave been consistently trending that way. So much so that it's become somewhat of a tradition in this weather blog to have cute "Emergency Kitten" video therapy for snow lovers who happen upon the forecast.
For the Pacific Northwest, El Niño years have typically meant warmer and drier winters with less than average mountain snowpacks, and the long range forecastshave been consistently trending that way. So much so that it's become somewhat of a tradition in this weather blog to have cute "Emergency Kitten" video therapy for snow lovers who happen upon the forecast.
And as you might imagine, after the worst ski season on record (by far!) at some of the Washington ski resorts last winter, skiers are understandably gloomy about this season's prospects and in turn, the ski resorts themselves have to feel a bit gloomy about that.
But does Super Godzilla / Bruce Lee El Niño really a death sentence for local ski resorts to have a second year of bare ski runs and shuttered lifts?
Not necessarily.
First, let's talk about just how bad last season was. Snoqualmie Pass had a total of 104 inches of snow for the entire 2014-15 winter season (as measured by the WSDOT at the base of the ski resort/top of the I-90 pass.) Some seasons up there, 104" is called "three weeks in January."
That was almost half of the previous record low of 191 inches in 1976-77! Or put another way, about 24 percent of normal. The resort had to close three times, losing 40 of their 100 guaranteed snow days.
The conditions set forth to bring such low totals was a confluence of very rare events not seen in at least several decades -- a super warm pool of ocean waters offshore (known affectionately as "The Blob") combined with a very persistent ridge of high pressure. It kept temperatures much warmer than normal -- December, February and March were all the warmest on record in Seattle, and January was No. 5.
But does Super Godzilla / Bruce Lee El Niño really a death sentence for local ski resorts to have a second year of bare ski runs and shuttered lifts?
Not necessarily.
First, let's talk about just how bad last season was. Snoqualmie Pass had a total of 104 inches of snow for the entire 2014-15 winter season (as measured by the WSDOT at the base of the ski resort/top of the I-90 pass.) Some seasons up there, 104" is called "three weeks in January."
That was almost half of the previous record low of 191 inches in 1976-77! Or put another way, about 24 percent of normal. The resort had to close three times, losing 40 of their 100 guaranteed snow days.
The conditions set forth to bring such low totals was a confluence of very rare events not seen in at least several decades -- a super warm pool of ocean waters offshore (known affectionately as "The Blob") combined with a very persistent ridge of high pressure. It kept temperatures much warmer than normal -- December, February and March were all the warmest on record in Seattle, and January was No. 5.
Snoqualmie
Pass Real Estate, Snoqualmie Pass Properties, Snoqualmie Pass Homes, Snoqualmie
Pass Lots, North Bend Real Estate, Snoqualmie Real
Estate, Carnation Real Estate, Suncadia Real
Estate, Easton Real Estate, ThomasWolter.com,
http://www.snoqualmiepassliving.com
No comments:
Post a Comment