When it starts
Kirkwood, Dec 21–26, 2025: the model's run on the day said 41.6" skiable over 6 days, best Wednesday at 14.7" (Full Send); the Caples Lake SNOTEL pillow gained 31" of depth. Close.
Close. 41.6" skiable in the model, 31" on the pillow: inside 3" or 30%.
Pack going in: 0" on Dec 20, 1" on Dec 21. The storm total counts from the first reading, so snow after 5pm the night before is in it.
| Day | Call | First chair | On hill | Skiable | Starts | Pillow before | Pillow after | Gain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun Dec 21 | Stay home | 0.0" | 0.1" | 0.1" | — | 1" | 5" | +4" |
| Mon Dec 22 | Nice day | 3.4" | 2.0" | 5.3" | ~8pm Sunday | 5" | 5" | 0" |
| Tue Dec 23 | Stay home | 0.0" | 0.0" | 0.0" | — | 5" | 20" | +15" |
| Wed Dec 24 | Full Send | 8.0" | 6.7" | 14.7" | ~11pm Tuesday | 20" | 26" | +6" |
| Thu Dec 25 | Full Send | 6.8" | 5.4" | 12.3" | ~5pm Wednesday | 26" | 33" | +7" |
| Fri Dec 26 | Full Send | 7.1" | 2.1" | 9.2" | ~8pm Thursday | 33" | 31" | -2" |
Model: the run on the day (Open-Meteo Previous Runs, best_match). PowHound does not keep superseded live forecasts, so this is not the number you saw the night before. It is usually closer.
Clocks, local time: first chair 5pm–8am, on hill 8am–5pm, skiable is both. Stay home under 2", Nice day 2–8", Full Send 8" or more.
Pillow: snow depth at the Caples Lake SNOTEL station, read once a day around midnight. A day's gain is the next midnight reading minus that day's, so it runs midnight to midnight, not 5pm to 5pm. Depth is not snowfall: new snow settles and blows around, so the pillow usually reads under what fell. Not the resort report.
Verdict: close is within 3" or 30%. Season numbers and method: llms.txt.