Nothing like 2.5 feet of new snow on Mount Hood in the past 48 hours to get folks waxing up their sticks and boards to hit the slopes.



The first big winter storm in nearly two years walloped the mountain over the weekend, with 54 inches in the past 72 hours at Mt. Hood Meadows and eight lifts running Monday. There is 82 inches on the ground at 6,250 feet and 50 inches at 5,300 feet.

"We're ecstatic that this major storm signals a return to the normal weather patterns that produce such great skiing and snowboarding conditions here at Meadows," said spokesman Dave Tragethon. "The storm sets us up for the important upcoming holiday period, and the season beyond."

Timberline Ski Area picked up three feet in the past 72 hours and is running five lifts Monday.



Mount Hood Skibowl has about 2 feet on the ground, but it is waiting for more snow to open lifts. The Snow Tube and Adventure Park is open, however.

The winter storm warning issued for the north Cascades late last week was the first such warning issued by the National Weather Service in Portland since February 2014, officials said.



Even Mount Ashland Ski Area (which never opened its doors during the 2013-14 season because of lack of snow) is expected to be open Monday, but that debut will be delayed because of a power outage and the temporary closure of Interstate 5 from heavy snow and jackknifed trucks.

Despite the lack of power Sunday, workers at Mount Ashland said some people made it up to the ski area and hiked up the slopes to carve out some turns.



Snow showers remain in the forecast through Wednesday, with light accumulations, until Thursday, when another storm moves in to dump another foot or more of snow.

The weather service issued a list of the weekend snowfall totals on its website Monday morning.



And as the snow hit, Mount Hood became a very popular topic on Instagram:

Awesome powder day at #mthoodmeadows #snowboarding A photo posted by @weylandben on Dec 13, 2015 at 9:53pm PST

It's still dumping up here! Snow groomers are on the hill track-packing the slopes in preparation for an opening soon! Keep praying for a little more snow, we are just about there! A photo posted by Mt. Hood Skibowl (@skibowl) on Dec 13, 2015 at 10:13am PST

-- Stuart Tomlinson

stomlinson@oregonian.com

503-221-8313

@ORweather