Friday, April 22, 2011

Money. Or So I Was Told.

The higher resorts all fed in reports of perfect conditions yesterday.  A few inches of cream cheese combined with copious winds filled in the tracks.  Then mother nature dropped the temperature and wind a bit as a few more inches fell over night.  Total, it was not much - about 5 or 6 inches.  But it was plenty to blanket the hills with a smooth, fast coat.  Add in the fact that it was April 21st, and on a Thursday, and you get absolutely no crowds.  Fresh tracks were had all day.  At Mt. Rose, it was windy enough that you needed at least two people to load the lift.  It was empty enough that the lift line could be up to five minutes for a single - as they waited for someone else to show up.  Sounds like good times, as our amazing ski season kicks it in for the final stretches.  And for those of you wondering what to do on Memorial Day besides roasting hotdogs and kicking back beers - Kirkwood just announced it will be open for skiing and riding both Saturday and Sunday, as we kick off the summer season. Oh, and we may get 6 inches tonight, so Saturday could be money again.

A new south swell fills in today and this evening.  Hype is high for this one, and we should expect a moderately decent few day of waves.  Still, don't expect too much.  The winds will play around with this swell, with strong north westerlies this morning.  Things should swing back and forth with the passing of some weather, so expect generally onshore conditions out of both the north and south.  We have a brief window for some SE winds in the evening Saturday.  Otherwise, you will want to find a protected corner to get the most out of this swell.  And remember, with any south, there will be time in between the sets.  Over the next few days we will also continue to see bits and pieces of wind swell from the north and west. Things will be peaky, which will help surf form on the early morning low tides.  Definitely worth getting out there and poking around this weekend.  Not much else is showing up on the charts.

The weather continues along the same path it has for the past week.  But things will begin turning the corner well into spring in just a few days.  Real warmth, though, may need to wait another week or more.  Today should remain fair, with some wind and some sun.  Still, day time highs stay in the 60s for most areas over the next few days.  Another wave passes through Saturday and Sunday.  This storm may dip far enough south to bring us some rain or drizzle.  It looks likely that some snow showers will occur in the mountains, but don't expect much accumulation. Tonight looks like the best chance for a decent accumulation.  Perhaps we will see 9 inches to a foot on the crest by the end of all this. Another wave passes through on Monday.  This last one looks like it will be quick moving, and again possibly bring us a shot at rain down here on the coast.  By Tuesday, high pressure begins to slowly ridge back in.  While this will clear the sky pretty well, we will still have some breezy conditions and cooler air to deal with.

We should break into the 70s in Santa Cruz by Tuesday.  A large low pressure system will not be far away, driving storms into the PNW.  This will keep things from getting too warm.  The upper level cyclone will peak around Thursday of next week and last through the end of the month.  As we move into the first week of May, our high pressure finally starts to build on top of us, and will hopefully allow some warm air to pump in.  There is a good probability that next month we will see some significant warmth and clear weather.  The next few days may be the last gasping breath of the amazing winter we just had.

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