The snow situation was not looking good on the afternoon of the annual Pray for Snow party at Charlie’s.

Not a flake of snow to be found in all of Government Camp, and the temperature was about 30 degrees too warm, some terrible combination of The Pineapple Express, El Nino Blob-o and the Climate Change Blues.

Then something very encouraging happened. The temp plummeted as the Pray for Snow party rocked, and by the next morning there was fresh snow on the ground. Not much mind you, but still, a couple of inches with a temperature well below freezing, and winds bringing in more precip from the Northwest — NOT the dreaded Southwest Wind, the bane of Mount Hood, turning all pow storms to slushy monsoons.

By 4 pm 4 inches of fresh snow had accumulated at 5,000 feet, with more higher up. Most importantly, the temps were down and staying down, and the precip kept coming in its proper form, as snow. The forecast was calling for 16 to 32 inches of snow through Thursday, which could be enough to open Timberline and Meadows by the weekend of November 21. By Monday night a foot of fresh had accumulated, although the Wicked Wind of the Southwest did return Tuesday with some rain to muck up the freshies.

By Thursday the base was up to 20 inches at 6,000 feet, although the snow had turned back to rain. Timberline and Meadows have yet to give a definitive answer on when they will start operating lifts, but they are definitely getting close.

Here’s a slideshow with a few choice images from Pray for Snow 2015. It was an excellent event that with luck will bring exactly the sort of big snow year we need.

{igallery id=1802|cid=63|pid=2|type=category|children=0|addlinks=0|tags=|limit=0}

Last modified: November 16, 2015