curious about NW snow season history

I've got a pretty good feel for what is a late start in California, but only been up here (Seattle) for 5 years so wondering how out of the ordinary this December is snowfall and snow-level wise.<br><br>Right now (Dec. 12th) it's looking like there won't be a significant snow event in the forseeable future, and the snow level won't be low for a good while too. Has there ever been a year when the ski areas didn't open in December?<br><br>I definitely enjoy getting myself up the mountain, but convenient, low-risk, high-altitude places to do so are not terribly numerous, and I'm definitely in need of a couple of thousand turns in a day to get my game in tune.

If you are speaking of lift served areas then, yes.  I could not tell you specific dates but I remember not skiing at Crystal until January several years.  I believe in 1976 Crystal was open for several weeks then closed down for the year due to lack of snow.  People say "its like the season never happened"<br><br>Typical opening seems to be around first week of December.  You always hope it will start by Thanksgiving and start to get worried the week before Christmas.  Baker seems to open first followed by Stevens and Crystal. This year the snow pack is lower than normal in my opinion and has not built up as it normally does.  Then again the weather's been strange this fall. <br><br>Were you here for the 1998/99 season?  I still cant get over that one or last years cold snap during Christmas and New Years OMG........<br><br>edit date.....

1977 was a very strong el nino year -- the Snoqualime pass ski areas only operated a total of 1 day that year. Back then many of the ski slopes had tall brush and boulders that required at least 5 feet of snow to cover. Most of the ski areas have since done considerable trimming and grading so that they can operate with considerably less snow.<br><br>OTH a large number of first "winter" ascents were made in 1977 during the long stretches of sunny weather and Washington pass (HWY 20) never closed.<br>

Historically, snowfall in the Cascades can be quite variable. There have been some very lean years. 1976-77 was one. I vaguely remember going to a Fred Beckey slideshow that winter when he said that "even the old-timers" couldn't remember a year so dry. The winter of 1962-63, the first year of operation of Crystal Mountain, was called the leanest in "forty years" in a March 29 article in Northwest Skier magazine. The winter of 1940-41 was also mild and dry. A monthy ranger's report at Rainier said January that year had less snowfall than any corresponding month since 1920.<br><br>My information on snowfall history is spotty and I've only made notes about it when it coincides with other historically interesting events.

Two years ago started off bad. I know as of Dec 8th 2002 there was basically no snow on the ground (it all washed away after several feet fell in November. Sound familiar?).<br>Not sure when the snows finally came in 2002, but it was before Christmas I think.

OTH a large number of first "winter" ascents were made in 1977 during the long stretches of sunny weather and Washington pass (HWY 20) never closed.<br>

<br><br>Here are some notes about a Powder magazine article written by Steve Barnett after the 1976-77 season. This is an interesting article historically, since it appeared early in the telemark renaissance before Steve published Cross-Country Downhill. <br><br>

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www.alpenglow.org/ski-history/notes/peri...#powder-1978-feb-p78

Feb 1978, p. 78: Barnett, Steve, "Touring Through the Drought"<br><br>The 1976-77 season was a snow drought with poor downhill skiing and, for most people, little good touring. "For a few skiers, however, it was the best ski year ever--a year of once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (weather, road access, and snow stability were near perfect)," writes the author. "What allowed us to exploit the opportunity was our style of touring--ski-mountaineering on lightweight Nordic equipment." The author describes trips to Excelsior Pass, Cascade Pass and Devil's Park in the North Cascades, Bridger Bowl in Montana, and the Bugaboos and Selkirks in B.C. The Excelsior Pass trip introduced Bill Nicolai to telemark skiing. "The revelation that downhill skiing is not only possible on cross-country equipment, but is extremely enjoyable, ignites the imagination of this experienced mountain skier, and he is soon planning a host of deep wilderness ski trips to take advantage of the suddenly perceived possibilities."<br>

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<br><br>At the end of the 1977 season, Barnett and Nicolai made the first-ever attempt to ski the Ptarmigan traverse. The idea of skiing high-level routes in the Cascades was something new and very important.<br><br>(I hope Steve doesn't mind me tooting his horn here. This stuff will all be in my book, eventually...)<br>

Amar Andalkar has selflessly done mucho impressive climatological research on Cascade snowdepth and snowfall. His highly useful and interesting data goldmine can be seen here:<br>www.skimountaineer.com/CascadeSki/CascadeSnow.html

He even has a new page on El Niño and La Niña:
www.skimountaineer.com/CascadeSki/CascadeSnowENSO.html

I like his optimism, "An important conclusion from all of this data is to largely refute a common misconception about El Niño in the Pacific Northwest. There is a general belief, even a deep-seated fear, among Northwest skiers that El Niño seasons are always disastrous for snowfall in the Cascades. The perception arose because El Niño tends to produce warmer than normal temperatures which result in more frequent winter rainfall in the Cascades, especially at lower elevations such as the ski areas in the Cascade passes of WA and OR. Although this may be so, El Niño seasons typically do have adequate precipitation and thus also adequate snowfall, especially at higher elevations which are most important for ski mountaineering."

I'm sure Andalkar will come and comment on this thread himself. In the meantime checkout the above links.


FWIW, I've skied every week for the past 8 weeks. Yesterday was the first time I didn't hit any rocks.

...and here are Lowell's notes on Chester Marler. This guy's tours really fascinate me. Anyway, I remember there is a note on general weather trends by Marler, as told by Lowell:<br><br>www.alpenglow.org/ski-history/notes/ms/marler-2002.html

These low-snow years are not on everyone's wish list but really, they do make for the easiest long-distance tours, especially dog-assisted.

This site contains graphics of monthly accumulation at several points in Washington's Cascades. The period covered seems to be mid 80's to late 90's.<br><br>www.nichols.edu/departments/glacier/snow...ons_in_the_north.htm

1948/49 was the worst for snow followed by the 1976/77 season with 1980/81 close behind. I have been keeping a list of the snowfall history gathered mostly from DOT information.<br><br>hyak.net/snowfallhist.html

The 1976/77 season put an end (maybe not totally, but was a bit influence in the demise of) Satus Pass, Mt Pilchuck and sent Hyak into Bankruptcy.........

I've been keeping a history through pictures of the Snoqualmie area since 1998 so you can compare the snapshot in time from year to year....

www.hyak.net/cam/

great info and good stories

Check this plot of the Cascade mtns. precipitation trends out.<br>www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/divplot1.pl

It seems the period from about 1920 to 1940 was much drier.

This year is not directly comparable (yet) to '76-'77 (that was much drier) but it's similar in that backcountry skiing has been much better than Alpine. I've had a good, even longer than usual early season. September 20 was the earliest start ever, October skiing was prettty good and it's stayed o.k. Cypress XC near Vancouver opened normally, and still operates though the snowpack isn't building up. I haven't hit any rocks all season. A lot of this is going where the snow is, high enough in the Baker area. Eastern BC seems to be good as well. While hwy 20 was open it sounds like that was good as well. Too bad it's closed for nothing. Hwy 20 staying open was key to enjoying the '76-'77 season.

We do a current total snowdepth, comparison to normal and best and worst for date twice and month. It is at:<br><br>www.nwac.us/products/CLISNO

I'm guessing we're smoking along at about 20% of normal, although the quality is not too hot.