NULL

2006-05-20 07:53:23.000 – Jim Salge,  Observer

Suprise snowstorm…

A big sloppy mess! That’s the only way that the ground conditions on the summit can be described this morning after 2 inches of rain and freezing rain, followed by 5 inches of snow! Snow covers ice, ice covers slush, and water oozes underfoot. Mesh this with the new snowdrifts that range in high up to a few feet, and you get about the most varied conditions imaginable!

The amount of snow that fell was quite a surprise for all of us up here. In earlier comments this week we spoke of down sloping winds, which limit precipitation ‘downstream’ of the mountains. This snow though was produced by its meteorological counterpart…UPSLOPE! Upslope is merely squeezing precipitation out of clouds as they flow over the mountains, and the upslope machine was definitely working overtime last night!

Jim Salge,  Observer