New Record for Mt. Rainier?

No significant new snow in days, parking lot bare:

MountRainierNPS ‏@MountRainierNPS
Due to the winter storm warning and advisory, the road to Paradise at Longmire will not open today. -kdr

Closed Tuesday & Wednesday; closed today (Thursday) because of a Winter Storm Warning.  But the big weather is supposed to be Friday--so closed again?  What about Saturday after a couple of feet of snow?  And Sunday.

Is this a case of "the boss is away and the mice will play" or a new policy of "Closed due to winter weather"?

In any case, if the Park is closed Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday due simply to administrative decisions, this could be a new record.

MOUNT RAINIER RECREATIONAL FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
336 AM PST THU FEB 21 2013

.SYNOPSIS...A WARM FRONT WILL BRING MORE PRECIP TO WESTERN
WASHINGTON TODAY. WINDY CONDITIONS AND HEAVY MOUNTAIN SNOW IS
EXPECTED FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT AT MOUNT RAINIER AS A STRONG COLD
FRONT IMPACTS THE AREA. SHOWERS WILL DECREASE SATURDAY IN A BREAK
BETWEEN SYSTEMS. ANOTHER WARM FRONT WILL REACH THE REGION SUNDAY
FOLLOWED BY A COLD FRONT ON MONDAY.

&&

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 AM PST FRIDAY...
...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH LATE
FRIDAY NIGHT...

.THURSDAY...SNOW AND RAIN. BREEZY. SNOW LEVEL 2000 FEET.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...SNOW AND RAIN. BREEZY. SNOW LEVEL 2500 FEET.
.FRIDAY...RAIN...SNOW...WINDY. PRECIPITATION MAY BE HEAVY AT
TIMES. SNOW LEVEL 2500 FEET.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...SHOWERS IN THE EVENING...THEN SNOW SHOWERS AFTER
MIDNIGHT. WINDY. SNOW LEVEL 1500 FEET.
.SATURDAY...SNOW SHOWERS LIKELY. WINDY.

Here are this Thursday morning's road tweets, even tho the WSW was for Friday!

"(5:54)  There is a winter weather advisory in effect for Mount Rainier.
(7:23)  The road to Paradise is being assessed for public travel. The gate at Longmire is currently closed. No projected opening time yet.
(8:21)  Due to the winter storm warning and advisory, the road to Paradise at Longmire will not open today."

There was a plow on cam at the Paradise lot about 8am.  Probably less than an inch of new based on moisture content.  The hourly snow telemetry has been broken for days and the wind telemetry also appears to not be working.

Best make other plans this weekend, folks...

How do the businesses in Ashford and Eatonville feel about persistent closures? Are guide services permitted to use the road when it's plowed but closed?

Judging from schedules on web pages, IMG has a course on the mountain now (Feb 16-22), and will be running a course on the mountain next week. RMI has a course beginning March 10.

How do the businesses in Ashford and Eatonville feel about persistent closures? Are guide services permitted to use the road when it's plowed but closed?

Judging from schedules on web pages, IMG has a course on the mountain now (Feb 16-22), and will be running a course on the mountain next week.  RMI has a course beginning March 10.

Some business owners are pretty upset; don't know about RMI and IMG.

Looking at the webcam and telemetry it seems like its snowing pretty good. Based on the total snow depth there's about 7 inches of new snow already. Hmmm.

I know there's no end of criticism for MORA and ONP but I'm curious to find out what the feelings towards N Cascades NP are? I never see anything here about them. I thought I read somewhere they just got a new superintendent too. My personal feeling is that it's a way better park than MORA or ONP. But that is just based on scenery/activity quality. Might be better in a different thread.

How do the businesses in Ashford and Eatonville feel about persistent closures?

An employee of GSI told me business is down 30% at the Longmire Inn and gift shop since the Tu-W Paradise winter closure began.

Whittaker's Motel in Ashford occasionally offers feedback tweets if you click 'expand' on the park tweets, for example:

2-21  "the warning/advisory is Friday. For today -SNOW TOTALS IN THE MOUNTAINS ARE BORDERLINE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY CRITERIA"
2-11 "Can you tell us the reason for such a late opening with no new snow?

Feedback tweets by many individuals are less polite...