Last week's series of September snowstorms brought widespread snow to the Northwest as well as light snow to much of the intermountain west. The highest totals fell on the volcanoes of Washington and Oregon, as well as the coastal mountains of British Columbia. Some moisture reached Northern California, however, winds associated with the storm lead to dangerous wildfire conditions over much of the state. We are tracking another series of storms that will bring additional snowfall to the Pacific Northwest, as well as below normal temperatures to nearly all of the intermountain west.
The action will begin tomorrow with the first storm, and last through Wednesday, blanketing British Columbia through Montana with snow. A second storm will be right on its heels, bringing additional snow primarily to Alberta and British Columbia. You can see the two storms barreling into the Northwest over the next week below:
(Image courtesy of Weatherbell)
At this point, neither storm appears to make it too far south, unfortunately, with the second storm's impacts focused on SW Canada. Both storms also are likely to split as they move inland, further decreasing the likelihood of significant impacts away from the coast. Still, the two storms combined will dump some substantial snowfall, especially over BC, with less amounts as you move south and east. Here is the GFS snowfall projection for the next week.
(Image courtesy of Weatherbell)
And also a closer look at British Columbia and Alberta:
(Image courtesy of Weatherbell)
And finally, an ensemble snow forecast from the University of Utah, showing that the volcanoes of the Northwest will once again see significant snow.
Rainier and Baker could see another 2-3 feet at upper elevations.
For those inland and farther south, below normal temperatures will be the main impact from these storms. From tomorrow through next Monday, below normal temperatures will move from Northwest to Southeast. Check out the progression of the cold air below:
(Image courtesy of Weatherbell)
That'll do it for this post. As always, we love to see the snow, but we really don't want to see too much. Persistent weak layers often develop from substantial Fall snowstorms, so let's avoid those.
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Luke
