It’s been a very active time across the Western US and western Canada. The early-season storm cycle was stuck up in the PNW but that cycle finally caved and dropped south. Most ski areas across the west saw overhear to over a foot of snow with some mountains getting 4-6 FEET (looking at you Sierra Nevada mountains). This recent storm is what lead us to issuing our first snorkel alert of the season.
Though California received the most snow out of anywhere, a lot of locations saw beneficial snows in the last 3 days.
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Areas of north Utah picked up up to 18” of powder. Colorado saw an additional 6-10” of snow. The Tetons saw 12-24” of snow. Same with northern Idaho and the Montana Rockies. The Cascades saw between 8-18” of snow in the last three days. Overall, a great coverage of snow and there is more on the way!
Forecast
There is a storm moving out of Colorado today, and behind it is our next storm. Moving onshore near Oregon, our next storm will bring the Oregon Cascades and Northern California the biggest snows in the next two days but this storm is likely to bring most inter mountain west areas additional snowfall through the end of the week.
PNW
A current storm moving in will bring the Cascades between 4-12” of snow with the most being found in the southern Oregon Cascades. The onshore flow will benefit areas around Mt. Ashland in Oregon and Mt. Shasta in NorCal with some of the bigger totals with this storm.
After this storm clears by Thursday night, a clearer forecast is in store through Sunday when our next storm, another possible notable storm, moves into the area.
California
The storm moving onshore will once again bring notable snows to the Sierra Nevada mountains. 8-16” of snow is looking possible from Mammoth Lakes to Heavenly. This is great news as the Sierra is still running below average in terms of snowpack but these recent storms have really helped.
This storm will clear out by Thursday night and then, we don’t have any strong signals for snow across California through the weekend but early next week looks promising for another wet storm to move through.
Utah/Wyoming
Thursday to Friday will be snowy as moisture moves in from the Pacific. 3-6” of snow looks likely during this time with some surprises possible in the Tetons but no more than 8” is expected there from this round of snow.
After this snow moves in and out, we have a relatively dry and mild weekend ahead. Our next storm to watch will be approaching by midweek next week. This looks to be a solid snow producer thanks to a cold front. That means NW facing mountains will benefit from this system the most.
Colorado
Colorado is currently under a strong storm bringing intense winds to the mountains. Some ski areas have closed and some were on delayed openings because of the wind. The storm, however, has brought up to 10” of fresh snow to the San Juan mountains and about 3-6” of snow for the central and northern mountains so a nice showing there if you were willing to brave the winds to enjoy it.
After this storm, some residual moisture from the storm moving onshore to California and Oregon currently will make it to the northern mountains by Thursday afternoon dropping an addition 1-4” of snow from Loveland to Steamboat. The weekend will be mild and dry but with so much fresh snow over the last week, conditions should be beautiful. The next storm to watch for Colorado comes around midweek next week when most mountains should get some more beneficial snows.
Montana/Idaho
This area stay calm through Thursday morning. A cold front dropping down from Canada will produce about 2-6” of snow from Schweitzen to Whitefish. A clipper will swipe this area on Sunday and could bring 3-6” of additional accumulation before clear early next week.
Our next storm here to watch will be the middle of next week and as with the other areas, this could bring some decent snows to area ski hills.
Overall, a decently active storm cycle lives on as we head towards Christmas. Sign up for our concierge service to stay informed on where the deepest pow can be found and to be alerted to any epic or snorkel forecasts!
~ Andy
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