Weather Guy: Still freezing our butts off

So here we are a couple of weeks into spring and there is still plenty of snow coming down all over the Sierras, Rockies, and the NE. Heck even North Dakota is getting shellacked by rain, freezing rain, and snow. Check out the satellite shot right now.



Needless to say despite the shift in seasons there are still a few regions that are sporting some freshies.

Right now we have a group of low-pressures that are moving through the Rockies and over into the Great Lakes area. This latest round of storms dumped quite a bit of snow in resorts on the western Rockies including areas in Montana, Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. Colorado had some new powder too but it was quite a bit lighter than the spots further north.



This storm is making its way over North Dakota/Minnesota but will slip up into Canada before it gets to the NE...eventually it will clip over Maine during the second half of the week but it will have lost a lot of its intensity.

The forecast is showing the NE and the Midwest to dry out slowly over the next couple of days but it isn’t going to stay clear for long. There is a new low-pressure system that moves over the Pacific NW later on Monday night and will slowly grind over Washington and Oregon before traveling SE towards Colorado (overtop everywhere in-between). The current snow forecast is calling for many spots in OR and WA to get several inches of new snow and in some places, like Stevens Pass, Mt Bachelor, and Mt Hood, nearly a foot of new snow. This will continue for most of the week as the storm moves super slow through the region. There is a good shot that we will see higher snowfall totals than what the short-range charts are calling for.

Conditions for the Pacific NW should start to improve, slightly, by next weekend...so if you live in the region or have a little extra coin it might be worth a trip up to your favorite mountain. Hopefully the winds and the weather will back down enough that we don’t freeze our collective asses off.



The Rockies will see this forecasted storm move into the region around the middle of the week, really the low stretches from the Pacific NW to the Rockies so there will be snow all across the region most of the week but the most intense part of the system will arrive in the Rockies...particularly Utah, Colorado, Wyoming...around Thursday, and then hold into Friday. Snowfall won’t be as heavy as what we see in Oregon...but there will still be several inches of new snow by the upcoming weekend.

The rest of the US looks a bit wetter as this storm moves further east. Looks like it is going to run into some warmer airmass as it moves over the Midwest and the East Coast...it won’t be “warm” but instead of snowing it will have icy rain, tornados, and other nastiness. Yeah for springtime!

Springtime snow!

I guess the winter weather hasn’t gotten the memo about springtime, because it is still out there kicking some ass this weekend.

We just had a strong new storm move through the Pacific NW…dropping a foot plus of new snow at resorts from Washington down through Tahoe and even the lower Sierras down through Mammoth had several inches of new snow. That is some pretty good snowfall considering that the first day of spring rolled through on Friday.

Check out this storm on the GOES satellites…



The main storm front has been steamrolling the west coast for the past 24-36 hours and is now moving off to the east to pummel the Rocky Mountain resorts. Current forecasts charts are calling for 1’+ of new snow to hit resorts like Vail/Beaver Creek, Steamboat, and Telluride. There will be plenty more powder falling across ski areas in Idaho, Utah, Montana, and Wyoming as well but it looks like the heavier moisture/snowfall will hit through the Central Rockies.



This storm does eventually move further east through the middle of the week and will drop snow across the Midwest and a few of the areas around the western Great Lakes region. The majority of the energy will pass up into Central Canada but it will be a considerably calmer storm as it moves past the higher elevations of the Rockies.

Long range for the week…we can expect some scattered snow flurries to follow in the wake of the bigger system, particularly in the Pacific NW and Northern Mountain areas…it won’t be a super significant amount of new snow but it will continue to shake down as we head toward the second half of the week. Eventually those storms will start to warm up and we could see slightly rainy conditions as we head toward next weekend.

If you are in the Pacific NW I think that you should try and get some fresh tracks on Monday/Tuesday…since the weather will finally break, and while it won’t be super sunny the winds and snowfall will be a lot more manageable.

The Rockies resorts will probably want to wait till midweek after this bigger (now spring) storm moves off to the east.

Ah good times…make sure to check back for a new forecast next Monday!

Winter ain’t over yet

Mother Nature isn’t quite ready for winter to wind down…yeah it isn’t as gnarly as we saw through January and February but there is still some strong storm action taking place across the Pacific NW, Idaho, and a few of the Rocky Mountain states.

Check out the National Weather Service National map…



You can see all of the storm action bunching up just off the Pacific NW Coastline and backing into the Gulf of Alaska. This is actually going to be the dominant weather trend over the next few days as a decent low sits right off the coast of Canada and feeds some smaller storms right into the upper US latitudes.

What this means snowise is that we have already had about 8-10” of new snow falling across Oregon and Washington (and BC)…the storm that just dropped that snow is already moving further east and is holding over Idaho, Montana, Northern Utah, and Western Wyoming. I am seeing some reports of Jackson Hole pulling in about 1-foot of new powder…and it looks like it is going to get another 6-8” inches over the next few days.

This storm eventually shifts north of the border and tweaks some of the central Canadian resorts before dipping down back into the Great Lakes (and the NE areas affected by lake effect snow) by later in the week.

The Pacific NW dries out over the next couple of days and could set up some awesome boarding conditions if the winds can stay down. If you are close to the Washington/Oregon resorts I would probably keep an eye on the hills around mid-week…you might get a chance for some fresh pow and light crowds.

Other areas around the Country like California and the more easterly NE resorts are going to get left out of the fun…expect sunnier but harder pack conditions than those areas that I highlighted.

This is about all I got for now…I would keep an eye on the Pacific NW later in the week, there may be some new storm action starting to push through the region as we head into the weekend.

Rockies getting a late season dusting

Spring is fast approaching but there are still a few wild winter storms pushing through the US. One patch of storms just managed to dump several inches of snow across Oregon and is on its (roundabout) way to drop some more on Montana, Utah, and Wyoming before heading off to f- up the Great Lakes region (there is a reason there are so many lakes there).

Currently the storm cluster is holding just over the Pacific NW and Idaho but it is slipping off to the east and even pulling up some moisture from some humid lows out in the Southwest. Check out the current NWS map…you can see the three low-pressures over the Pacific NW and the heavy snow patch pushing over Utah into Wyoming and Colorado.



This storm will drop about 6-8” of new snow through those three states and maybe as much as 10-12” on the better Wyoming resorts. Naturally some select areas will see some heavier snowfalls.

Over in the NE we are seeing some more action as well…another cold low-pressure is tearing through the New England states dropping as much as 5-6” of new snow across much of the region and as much as 8”+ at a few of the higher elevation resorts. Looks like this will clear out over the next couple of days and could set up some sunnier skiing by later in the week.

The West Coast…in particular the Southern Sierras and the Socal Resorts are looking pretty dry for the next week or so…there will be some long-range storm action moving in next weekend but not a lot going on in the meantime. I expect some slushy conditions for the more southerly resorts but Mammoth, June, and Tahoe could have some fun snow shape and conditions as we head toward the middle of March.

Snowmegedon 2009

Airports are shutting down, traffic is snarling, schools are closed, and even the national morning news is basically freaking out about the snow... it is causing Snowmegeddon across the US...Wait, Snowmegeddon? Really?

If you paid too much attention to the newscasters you would think that the US has been shut down by a “Day after Tomorrow” snowstorm. In reality while it is dumping some snow across the Northeast, and hitting some funky spots in the Southeast, most of the country isn’t even seeing rain let alone snow.

I wish it was snowmegeddon...I have the perfect battle plan already set up. Check it out...I have been training these guys since 1981! We are totally going to kick ass.



Anyway enough about my hopes and dreams...on to the forecast.



The West Coast is getting a solid dusting

I maybe was a being a little hasty in my “most of the country isn’t even seeing rain let alone snow” comment...there is actually a solid winter storm that is moving across the Pacific NW and the Sierra Nevada. This system has already dropped about 10-15” of snow for many areas over the last 24 hours and it looks like we are going to see another 2-feet plus of new snow over the next 2 days. This system is going to stretch from British Columbia down through Central California...about the only place that isn’t going to get new snow is SoCal since the storm sort of slips past to the north.

Right now the forecasts are showing Tahoe (including June and Mammoth areas) and up in British Columbia are going to be the hardest hit areas...but expect some solid new snow at all of the higher elevation resorts between those two areas as well.

The Rockies

The Rockies, and most of Idaho and MT, are looking a bit dry right now. High-pressure is holding over the central US and it looks like this area is going to have to wait a few days for any serious snow. It looks like some minimal snowfall occurring on Tuesday but with a bigger storm looming in the long-range for next weekend.

A lot is going to depend on how much moisture gets sucked out of the storm battering the Pacific NW...if it can hold onto a little water and energy the Rockies could get some decent snow over Saturday and Sunday of next weekend. I would keep an eye on the local weather forecasts as we get closer to the end of next week.

The Northeast

Today actually looks like the last day of snowmegeddon for the NE...yeah there is a shitload of snow that dropped in areas that normally don’t see that much (like NY City)...but it looks like the worst is over and the low that dragged all that moisture up from the SE is actually moving out into the North Atlantic (in order to head over and shaft Europe a bit).

I expect that the region will start to clear up but keep some chilly winds as the storm moves offshore. Look for just a bit of trace snow over the next couple of days as high-pressure builds back in behind the storm front.

If you don’t mind the winds the storm just dropped a foot or more of new snow on the local resorts...seems like it would be a good time to grab a few freshies.

Long-range we can expect the storm over on the west coast to make its way across the US and eventually move through the Northeast region later in the upcoming weekend...probably setting up some funky wind, and possibly more snow, by early next week.

Check back the next forecast will be heading your way on Monday!