The snow just keeps on piling up in the Cascades (with a bit more at lower elevations as well), and that’s a light at the end of the tunnel for folks like Kyle Gorman, the state Department of Water Resources south-central region manager.

Yet another winter storm warning was posted for Tuesday through early Wednesday in the mountains as the latest storm was predicted to bring up to a foot of snow Tuesday and up to eight more inches overnight, with totals at some higher spots reaching two feet.

National Weather Service forecasters urged drivers to use “extreme caution while traveling through the Cascades early this week. Roads will be snow-covered and slick. Carry extra food, water and an extra flashlight in your car, in case of an emergency.”

Chains or traction tires still were required Tuesday on the mountain passes, which reported four to five feet of roadside snow – and a whopping 97 inches along the road to Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood.

Those numbers are “impressive,” Gorman said Tuesday – especially considering how little snow was around less than two weeks ago.

Automated “SnoTel” telemetry readings find the Deschutes/Crooked river basin at 95 percent of normal, in terms of snow-water content, and 102 percent of normal in precipitation. “That (snow-water) number is low because it shows one site that says zero, and I know darn good and well it’s not zero,” Gorman said, pointing to the limits and occasional problems of automated snow readings.

“It’s a good start to the year, but we’re still very early in the water year, snowpack-building season,” he said. “We’ll see how the rest of the season goes.”

Ski resorts keep piling it on; snow sticks in High Desert forecast, too

Mount Bachelor (http://www.mtbachelor.com) recorded another foot of snow in 24 hours, for a base of 60 to 66 inches. It was 16 degrees and still snowing Tuesday morning. At Hoodoo Ski Area (http://www.hoodoo.com), eight inches of new snow pushed the base to 60 to 62 inches. It was 21 degrees and still snowing Tuesday morning, with winds around 20 mph.

In Central Oregon, forecasters said one to three inches more snow would fall Tuesday near the Cascade crest, with lighter amounts elsewhere. The chance of snow lingers at 40 percent Tuesday night and 30 percent Wednesday as the snow level rises to 4,000 feet late Wednesday. Rain or snow is likely Wednesday night, as the snow level rises to 5,000 feet, before dropping back to 4,000 feet Thursday.

Friday and Saturday are now predicted to be dry, though still nippy – great news for shoppers, as well as those attending Bend’s downtown tree-lighting ceremony Friday night and the city’s yearly Christmas parade on Saturday. A chance of rain and snow returns Sunday and Monday.

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