I was chatting with my friend Brian today and we got to talkin’ about snow in the Wasatch, or a lack thereof as it stands now. I couldn’t help recall Thanksgiving of 2001 in LCC. Conditions were a lot like they are now. Grim. Then suddenly, instant powder. Enjoy…
Sunday, November 25, 2001
Sky Cover: Snowing Heavily
High Temp: 12 o
Winds: Moderate – NW
Expected Snowfall: 10-14 “
Today’s Report:
Skiers, this is what we all dream of and what makes Alta famous. What’s going on here right now only happens in Little Cottonwood Canyon. It was only last week that we were closed because we didn’t have enough snow. And now, we’re closed because we have too much snow. The storm we’re in right now is doing very good things to Alta. Once we have a chance to dig out a little bit, we’ll be able to come up with a solid opening time. At this point, we’re confident that our opening will be this week and we’ll make a specific announcement in this report and on alta.com tomorrow afternoon.
Since Thanksgiving, 82″ of snow has fallen on Alta. Today alone, the road has been closed, we’ve been interlodged all day and we’ve watched as 18″ of new snow has blanketed the area. And now, the National Weather Service is telling us that a lake effect band has set up and is pointed directly towards the Cottonwood Canyons.
Please be advised that at this time, the road into Little Cottonwood Canyon is temporarily closed for avalanche control work. UDOT tells us that the restriction is expected to last through the night. The town of Alta is also in Interlodge and is also expected to last through the night.
Right now in the town of Alta, it continues to snow hard, we have moderate winds out of the NW and about 20 degrees. In the last 24hrs., we’ve received 31″ bringing our total since October 1st to 111″. Settled snow depth at mid-mountain now stands at 76″.
Our forecast for the next few days looks pretty impressive. As the lake effect kicks in, we could see as much as 10-14″ tonight and another 7-10″ or more tomorrow. With the snow, we should see wind speeds in the moderate range with a low temperature tonight around 10 and high tomorrow near 15. The forecast for Tuesday through Saturday calls for cloudy skies with a chance for snow each day.
The above is a snow report I saved from Alta.com, Thanksgiving week 2001.
