G'afternoon, Flip. Ho come? K, got your, C...an't stay long!
:C) noted, thanks...;-)))
Just got a FLOOD waring on my WB for the greater Millamette valley through 7pm today.
High Hopes For an Early Ski Season Reported by: Tim Joyce Email: tjoyce@koin.com Last Update: 11/06 7:05 pm
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The view from behind the windshield The fat wet flakes just keep coming in the mountains—and they’re expected to continue for much of the weekend. East of Portland, it’s quickly becoming a winter wonderland. About 3,000 feet in elevation, the giant raindrops hitting the Cascade Range change over quickly into an unrelenting snowfall.
At Ski Bowl, the lowest of the Mount Hood ski resorts, they’re ready to go. This is the third “whitening” of the mountain this fall so far.
“It’s definitely an emotional roller coaster,” says Troy Fischer of Mount Hood Ski Bowl. This is Fischer’s 9th season working Mount Hood. He shares the hope that abounds on Mount Hood is that the snowfall this weekend will be the one that helps get the coming ski season started. Depending on the type of snowfall, Mount Hood Ski Bowl typically likes to have about 24 inches of snow to start operations; so far they only have about a half a foot.
If the forecast holds and the snow lines stay down, the optimistic viewpoint is that they could be open by Monday. This would beat by two days, their earliest opening ever for Ski Bowl back in 1994 on November 11th. In the last four years the resort has typically opened near Thanksgiving, considered typical for the Pacific Northwest. Last year, Ski Bowl didn’t open until December 14th.
Despite his excitement, Fischer tries to keep his emotions in check, “We’re hoping for the best and we’ll see what happens.”
Up at Timberline on Friday afternoon, near white-out conditions due to low clouds and fog hugging the top of Mount Hood. Since the lifts sit motionless collecting snow, many die-hard snowboarders and skiers here will hike high up nearly an hour up the slopes for a single run down.
Darcy Bacha has snowboard and a huge backpack in tow for yet another hike up the slope. The Welches, Oregon man is delighted with the incoming storm, “It’s great, especially after the last couple of months. It’s been nothing but sunshine.”
Other families on the mountain visiting from as far away as Texas, were not concerned with things like ski lifts and whether the ski season was days or weeks away.
“We live in Texas-- and you don’t get snow like this in Texas,” says Geri Jones visiting with her two children and husband. Making snow forts, throwing snowballs and sledding were on their agenda on Friday afternoon.
Her daughter, Victoria said the Oregon Cascades, for her, beat the warm Texas coast any day. “Here there are snowball fights and forts. At the beach all you can do is make sandcastles and you don’t want to get in the water because it’s nasty. I like this much better.”
Travelers through the Cascade Mountain passes should fully anticipate winter driving conditions. Officials at the National Weather Service offices in Portland and Seattle say to expect wintery weather in the mountains. The agency has issued a Winter Storm Watch for the Cascades in Washington and a Winter Weather Advisory for the Cascades in northern Oregon through Sunday. It’s recommended that those traveling through the mountains carry chains or traction tires because conditions can change quickly at the mountain passes.
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