Weather Guy: Closing up shop

Not a lot of snow coming down this week…and really we are heading toward the summer season so there aren’t going to many snow days left.



The current forecast have a low-pressure slowly moving through the Pacific NW and over to the North Eastern Rockies…putting a few inches of snow across Idaho, Montana, and a bit of northern Utah. This won’t be lasting all that long…the low should move on out to the north and will help keep Canada cold and pasty white for a couple of more weeks.

After that there isn’t a whole lot coming into to take its place. The long-range charts are showing some warmer low-pressures, more spring-like, push slowly through the west coast and the Pacific NW around the end of the week…potentially setting up a couple of very small pockets of snowfall at the higher elevations as we head into the upcoming weekend.

I think that we should probably start de-winterizing over the next several weeks…looks like spring is here to stay and summer is around the corner.

Dialing down the volume on new snow

There ain’t a lot of new snow forecast this week...granted it is the middle of spring...but storm action is definitely on the way down.

Right now we have two stubborn pockets of storminess...one over the Pacific NW (namely Washington) and the other over the Great Lakes area. Neither look particularly snowy...just sort of rainy and soggy. But there is still a chance at some lighter snow at the higher elevations.



Further out in the forecast it looks like there is a slim shot at some more light snow for the Pacific NW.

We actually have a cutoff low forming in the Pacific that is going to bring some moisture over the Sierras and the Rockies as we head toward the end of the week. It doesn’t look all that intense...and really it is way out in the forecasts so there is a good chance that it may not even pull together the way it is showing on the charts right now. Check it out...



If this does form up the way the models indicate it looks like we could have some more soggy conditions move through the Sierras by Friday and Saturday eventually hitting the Rockies on Sunday. Again this doesn’t look like much new snow...mostly just some dusting at the higher elevations...the lower altitude stuff is going to be mostly rainy and windy.

I wish I had more for you guys...but as we get close to summer (and the west coasts melts from record heat) I think the chance of snow is going to get pretty slim.

Well at least we got some surf on the way.

Winter starting to close up shop

We still have a little bit of snow weather sneaking through but overall we are shifting to a spring weather pattern.

Most of the snow is getting shunted up into the Pacific NW…as well as some of the Eastern Rockies (Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho)…check out the NWS chart.



You can see a little bit of snow around Colorado…but the most intense storms we are going to see this week are stuck around Washington and Oregon. Really only the higher elevation spots are going to see real snowfall…the lower resorts are going to have more slush and rain.

Over the next few days we are going to see the low that is setting up snow for the Pacific NW slowly move over the mountain states…getting a couple of inches of new snow for those areas…but not a really significant amount. Basically we can expect a rather intense…sort of wet storm, typical of the Pacific NW, moving through the region and then drying out as it hits the rockies. Eventually the remnants of the storm move off to the east but it acts as more of a rain/thunderstorm generator than a snow maker.

Long-range is looking a bit sparse right now…there are a couple of lows still roaming through the Gulf of Alaska but most of those are going to blow themselves out before hitting land…either that or give a couple inches of snow to the moose and grizzly bears way up north in Canada rather than any spots in the US. Look for snowfall to get more and more rare as we move through the end of the month.

Where’d the snow go?

Well it looks like the last of the “winter” weather is starting to wind down in the US.

We have definitely slipped into a springtime pattern with just a couple of marginally cold pockets of weather sneaking through. I mean check out the current NOAA national chart…



This is just sad.

It isn’t completely game-over for snowfall…the forecast is still showing a little bit swirling around out there. Currently we have a pretty well-developed storm that is pushing across the NE and Mid-Atlantic States…a few of the forecast points around the Great Lakes area are calling for several inches of lake-effect snow over the next few days. It does start to dry out a bit better by the second half of the week.

Over on the West Coast we are seeing a new low-pressure that will be pushing over California and the Pacific NW…it isn’t particularly strong but it will have a bit of moisture in it as it dredges up some warm-air mass from the lower latitudes. This system will move through Wednesday/Thursday and should drop a couple of inches of new snow on the Sierras through the middle of the week, just in time to put some cover on spots like Mammoth and help us have some decent spring conditions.

Eventually this system moves through the Rockies but it won’t put that much snow at the exposed areas. There may be some marginal levels of new snow in Colorado but the other areas will just get a light dusting.

So that is about all I got for now…as we head toward summer it looks like these forecasts are going to get more and more depressing.

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!

Old Man Winter takes it coast to coast!

We are going to have a good week of winter weather across the US brining new snow to almost every resort region and some potentially heavy dumps of new powder across the NE states and along the West Coast.

Check out the current NOAA national weather map…you can see the first couple of low-pressures that are doing the initial snowmaking.



Over in the NE states we have a nice solid low pressure that is pulling a grip of moisture out of the Great Lakes and dredging up a bunch of warmer (and more dynamic) energy from the SE states. It is getting pushed along by mild but building ridge of high-pressure along the Midwest…so while it won’t stick around long it is going to be pretty energetic. Current forecasts are showing it dropping nearly 2-feet of new powder for many of the resorts in the area and potentially larger snowfalls in a few select areas.

Here are a few of the resorts in the area…and the snowfall that is expected for the next couple of days.

Whiteface: 6-8"

Sugarbush Resort: 8-12"

Black Mountain: 10-15"

Long-range it looks like the weak high-pressure in the middle of the country is going to break down pretty fast and let a mix of new storms move through the mid-latitudes by Wednesday, which will continue all the way up through next weekend. It means that ski resort conditions won’t be stellar but there will be some consistent new snow (just adding to everyone’s base and potentially extending the ski/snowboard season)…and some potentially heavier activity as we head into next weekend (beginning of March).



Over on the West Coast we have some lovely storms lining up “out-back” in the Pacific…in fact one of them is starting to edge over California/Pacific NW today. We can expect this new storm to send heavy rains to the Oregon/California border, more normal rain throughout the rest of the region and new snow to the Sierras.

Current forecasts are expecting some decent snowfall totals for the next couple of days. Mammoth, for example, is going to have another 5-6” through Mon-Tues.

The heaviest snow for the West Coast from this storm looks like it is going to center around the spots near Tahoe and further up toward Shasta. At this point it looks like they could have another 8-10” of new snow and potentially larger totals by midweek as another couple of fronts follow this first system.
The Rockies look like they will be doing pretty well too…we should have new storm action moving out of the Pacific NW on Monday/Tuesday that pushes over Idaho/Montana/Wyoming resorts through the middle of the week. There will also be some lower latitude energy that moves up out of New Mexico and drags new snowfall across Colorado. Looks like Western Wyoming will get a shot of that guy as well so look for heavier snowfalls around Jackson Hole and the northern Utah resorts as these storms pass.

Further out the storm track is going to stay nice and active through the week so I expect basically back-to-back storms sliding over the country, with the next one starting to move over the west coast by midweek and yet another as we head into next weekend.

West Coast Winter Storm

The snowfall on the Sierras here in February 2009 has been silly…and it looks like the west coast is about to get another solid dump as a new winter storm moves in over the next 24 hours.

Just to put it in perspective...we have already seen several feet of snow all over California and Oregon over the last couple of weeks. Mammoth for example has had nearly 70” of snow so far this February, which equals what they are reporting for all of January 2009. The total base for the mountain is averaging between 10-15 feet.

We have already seen several inches of new snow over the last couple of days but the real storm is just starting to arrive and the current forecasts are calling for nearly 1-2 FEET of new snow throughout most of the California Sierra Nevadas over the next 24 hours. Check out the latest National Map from NOAA and the National weather service…just a quick FYI…it is never good to see “red” colors on these maps.



NERD Alert – (skip this part if science and weather stuff gives you a headache). This storm is another one of those cold/wet – warm/wet mixes that I have talked about over the last couple of months. Basically you are getting a nice cold low from the North and a very warm, moisture laden, low-pressure from the mid-latitudes. When these two mix it is like throwing gasoline onto a fire…all the latent heat energy from the warm storm cools rapidly and the air looses its ability to hold water vapor…and bingo, shit (rain, snow, hail, smog) starts falling from the sky. When we have a really dynamic mix of those two storms (like we do right now) over the mountains it cools and lifts so rapidly that it snows, a lot, like “holy crap” a lot. Check out the water vapor image…that is the storm just off the coast.



Anyway…So with this new storm we can expect at minimum 6-10” for most west coast ski resorts.

Snowfall in California looks like it will be heavier since the lows are mixing right around central California. Southern California ski areas can expect nearly 10-15” of new snow. So can Mammoth and other Central California areas. Northern Cal around Shasta and the Oregon border will have similar snowfall totals…but it may be a bit lighter in the Tahoe area for some reason. With this much snow getting to the mountain and the actual “ski conditions” are going to be pretty nasty for the next couple of days. We may want to hold off till midweek, or at least until the heavy part of the storm blows through.

Oregon resorts like Mt Hood and Mt Bachelor have seen nearly 20”+ of new powder since last Tuesday…and they have more scheduled for the next 24-36 hours. It won’t be as heavy as California but those regions can expect another 5-10” as well.

Eventually this storm does move out east and drops some snow on the Rockies…I actually expect more snow in Colorado and Utah from this bad boy…but Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming should all see some new powder as well.

The East Coast/Great Lakes region will have some of this storm later this week…closer to Wednesday/Thursday for the GL…and Thursday/Friday for the NE…but the majority of the energy is going to get pushed up into Canada and so it won’t do as much damage as we are going to see out west.

Long-range is showing another low holding off the West Coast later this week…maybe even another mix of warm/cold lows. The current forecast isn’t very clear on when it will actually start to make landfall but we could see some more new snow early next week.

Lots o snow!

Oh man what a different a week makes. Last Monday I was writing about the huge high-pressure that had shut down the snow-machine…and this week…well we have sooooo much new snow that I almost don’t know where to begin.

Obviously the biggest difference from a weather-standpoint is the breakdown of that ridge of high-pressure. We had a mix of low-pressures storm fronts moving in over the west coast, in particular a nastly little warm-low that blew through Southern California.

Check out the Current NOAA/NWS national map.



See all those big “L’s” spread across the western half of the US? Those are all of the storms that are currently shellacking resorts all over the region.

The mix of that warm low-pressure and another colder front pushing in from the Gulf of Alaska has really supercharged the weather across the Sierras (and now the Rockies) and it planning on dropping a ton of snow over the next few days.

Already resorts from SoCal’s Bear/Summit conglomerate, to Central Cal’s Mammoth Mountain, on up through Oregon’s Mt. Bachelor and Mt. Hood, have seen several inches of new powder, and in a few spots we have snowfalls that are being measured in ‘feet’ rather than inches.

Well for the West Coast there is more activity expected for the next couple of days...there is a whole series of fronts moving down out of the Gulf of Alaska and the mid-latitudes of the North Pacific that are going to grind over the coast as we head through midweek. These new fronts are colder, and a little bit drier, than the ones we just had ride through but they are still planning on dumping anywhere from 6-12” of new powder across the Sierra’s resorts.

Further out it looks like a couple of weaker fronts could move through later in the week setting up some light snowfall for later in the week.

In the Rockies, as well as Utah –Idaho -Montana, the storm that just tagged the West Coast is still pushing through. It hasn’t dried out a ton after moving over the Sierras, so there is still plenty of new snow…spots like Aspen and Telluride are expecting another 8-12” of new snow over the next 24-hours. At resorts further north it looks like it will be a little lighter…say around 6-10” but there will be pockets of heavier pow-pow in select areas.

There will be a break in the weather for the Rockies around midweek but we can expect the increasing west coast storm activity to continue to push east later in the week and possibly set up more snowfall and winter-storm conditions by next weekend.

Check out the NOAA extended range graphical forecast…you can see the slight break between storms but new snow activity is still reaching out across the US.



Further East it looks like we have the tail-end of some Canadian cold fronts pushing through the always freezing ass cold NE. This storm is still dropping snow light snow over parts of Maine and New Hampshire…but not much else. The latest storm front moving off the Rockies will move over the region in about 3-days so we can expect some increasing winter weather and the possibility of a lot of new snow by the second half of the week.

All in all I think that the West Coast and Rockies resorts are going to be a good call over the next week, if you can stand some snow, higher winds, and general winterness. There is going to be a lot of new snow cover for fresh tracks. Hope you get a chance to get some.

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

High-pressure can kiss my…

Most of the US, particularly those areas below the 45N latitude, have been pretty dry over the last week. The weather has been great but there hasn’t been a lot of snow.

The bad news is that except for a few areas we aren’t going to see a lot of snow this week either.

High-pressure has got most of the mid-latitudes on freaking lock-down right now and it is really cramping any new pow production. Check out the NOAA map (I swear I will get some more maps once the weather starts to kick back up again)…



As you can see from my super-technical observations on the map itself…the current set up sort of blows. You can see multiple high-pressure ridges (indicated by the blue “H”s)…those are actually little peaks of a very large ridge that is stretching from the West Coast all the way across the Midwest states.

In fact, because of this big-ass High, we are only seeing a few pockets of weather let alone snow. The most dynamic areas of weather are occurring around the edges of the high…and any new snow is occurring right around the Canadian/US border, with one little area around the Pacific NW and another around (you guessed it) the Great Lakes.

At this point it looks like just some minimal snowfall occurring through the Pacific NW (probably below 2” in most areas.) The Great Lakes areas will see some areas pull in nearly a half foot+ of new snow over the next couple of days before that storm front slips back into Canada.

Long-range is not looking great for the areas under the high-pressure…we are going to see mostly dry, and sometimes windy, conditions for the next several days. It does, however, look like we get some new low-pressure/storm-fronts starting to push over the West Coast later in the week. Unfortunately one of these lows is going to be a “warm-wet” low that isn’t great for snow-making…so a lot of the West Coast isn’t going to see a ton of snow from this one. It does start to mix with colder air from Canada a little later in the weekend as it pushes east…so we could potentially see some more snow for the Rockies and eventually the NE as those storms move further across the country.

More of the white stuff

Winter is still humming along for most of the US…but we are starting to settle into the “late” winter pattern, where we see a few days of storm followed by a longer dry-period.

We were sort of unlucky to have the latest round of storms move over the Sierras and the Rockies this weekend…the Rockies in particular, since Aspen/Buttermilk Mountain were the home of the winter x-games this year. In fact the storm and new snowfall made conditions a bit treacherous at times. Check out some of the latest x-games news from Fuel.tv here.

VIDEO: Travis Rice, Torah Bright, Shaun White Win

Anyway back to the weather (cause that is what we are here to talk about)…right now we are seeing a nice wet-low pressure holding position over the central United States. It will start to push slowly NE and clip the Eastern Great Lakes region as it moves into Canada over the next couple of days but in the meantime we can expect it to continue to dump new snow across the exposed resorts. Check out the NOAA national map…you can see the broad low stretching from the West Coast across the Rockies and into the Midwest states.



In particular this storm is going to drop a bit of new snow across Northern Colorado and Southern Wyoming ski resorts. Some of the top spots can expect nearly 10-12” of new snow over the next 24-48 hours.

The West Coast and the Sierras will also see another cold front, albeit slightly drier than the last one, move over the California coast on Monday and follow the other low-pressure in the middle of the country off into Canada by the middle of the week. There won’t be a ton of snow in the following system but we can still expect 1-3” of new snow for resorts like Mammoth and Tahoe before the storm moves on. Add that new pow to the stuff that fell earlier in the weekend and it makes for pretty nice conditions for those areas by the second half of the week.

Colorado and the rest of the Rockies look like they will be into sunnier, but probably winder, conditions by the end of the week as well.

Over on the East Coast it isn’t looking as snowy as the other parts of the country. There will be some new powder in the ever consistent “lake effect areas” where the major export is snow apparently…but not much else will be dropping over the NE…and as usual all we can expect in the SE is rain and mosquitoes.

Long-range is looking a bit bare…we have a new ridge of high-pressure building over the West Coast that is going to shut down the storm track for a few days…expect minimal snowfall through the end of the week and into next weekend. Looks like our next semi-significant snow will be early during the following week as some new weather starts to move into the Pacific NW and eventually hits the higher elevations in the Sierras.

Anyhoo that is all I got for tonight…I’ll be back with a new forecast by next Monday!

WTF happened to winter?…oh there it is

Ok…besides some pockets up in the NE and Eastern Canada, where they got hit by an always lovely “Alberta clipper", there hasn’t been much winter-like weather.

The Pacific NW and California have been in full-on summer mode with nearly 80-degree weather and blinding sunshine. Even the normally socked in San Fran Bay Area was sunny and 70.

The culprit has been a couple of wicked high-pressure holding over the high desert areas between the Sierras and the Rockies. They have basically locked down storm movement for most of the US except for the cold dry systems that slip in from Canada (aka winter’s summer house).



Unfortunately these high-pressures are not going anywhere for the next few days…so we will have more nice weather and slushy mountain conditions for most of the US western resorts.

The only new snow that we are going to see this work week is the activity holding around the great lakes that is threatening to continue to drop new snow over the next couple of days. The Southern Great-lakes areas like Ohio will have another 1-2” of snow through Wednesday. Further east the New York and New England states will have 3-4” of new snow…possible close to 6” at some of the luckier resorts.

Long-range is looking a lot more interesting.



The ridges do break down in about 3-days and shift to the east as they start to erode. At the same time we see three storms, one coming right over California, another slipping in from the Gulf of Alaska, and a third low-pressure that moves out of mainland Mexico. This is going to develop some dynamic atmospheric mixing, you know… the sort of shit that means bad news for Trailer Parks everywhere.

From this new mix of systems I am expecting much more new snow to begin falling at higher elevations across the Sierras by Thursday and the Rockies by the upcoming weekend. It is hard to tell how much will come down at this point but with the more humid/warm moisture moving in from the South I think we could get a decent dusting at a few of the resorts. I think by the middle-end of next week it would be good to already have a tripped planned somewhere fun.

Anyways…work on your tan for the next couple of days and then start gearing up for the upcoming weekend and next week.

Warming up a bit

After a couple of strong weeks of snowfall it looks like we are going to see some sunnier skies and a little warmer weather that may let us enjoy all the new snow.

There is a rather dry and chilly, cold-front moving through the middle of the US and over the great lakes that will put a couple of inches of new snow around the Great Lakes and over the NE…mostly through Michigan, Vermont, and New Hampshire…but that is going to be most of the new powder that we see this week.

Look for most of the higher elevation Michigan resorts to see another 4-6” of new snow over the next 48-72 hours. The NE spots will be closer to 2-4” except in those Lake-Effect affected areas.

The majority of our weather is going to be driven by a large ridge of high-pressure that going stack up most of the US West Coast and most of the Southern/Central Rockies. This will shut down a lot of the storm track for the Western Ski resorts but may allow a couple of weak cold fronts to move out of Canada, brining mostly wind…but a little snow as well, to Montana and the Dakotas.



At this point I am not expecting any significant snowfall for the next several days…but since we already have plenty of snow it will be good to get some nicer conditions in order to enjoy what has already piled up.

The Long-range forecast is also looking pretty quiet…that high-pressure is expected to stick around for most of the week and that is going to be a massive obstacle to new storms. Don’t look for this high to move out this week…we might see it start to break down about midweek next week. I guess that we are just going to have to enjoy the sun.

Have a good one!

Reloading the Storm Track

We have already been seeing a pretty good winter season for most of the country…it has been a little dry in Colorado but most of Western Rockies, the Pacific NW, and all of California have been seeing some heavy snowfall for the last couple of weeks. So heavy in fact that there has been some pretty heavy and deadly avalanche action. Check out this story from Alison Berkley…she has a ton of the details on just how dangerous this season has been.

Avalanche Danger Hits Resorts Throughout West

Over on the East Coast there has been some consistent snowfall around the Great Lakes and over into the Northeast…not as consistent as the stuff out west but still healthy at times.

The current forecast is looking really good for winter weather. We have a string of storms moving in from the North Pacific that are stretching “out the back” and over to the Aleutians that are going to pile on the snow across Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia. Eventually these storms are going to push across the northern half of the US and dump more powder over Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Utah throughout the early part of the week.



These storms do make it across the US later in the week and should have more snow, and some really wild weather stretching snowfall across the NE states and some severe weather.

Check out the storms stacking up out the back



Like I said it looks like the majority of the new snow over the next couple of days is going to hit in Washington, which is going to see 1.5 to 2 feet of new snow over the next 48 hours.

Crystal Mountain - 20-25"
Timberline - 15-20"

Oregon is going to be close behind with nearly a 1-foot+ of pow-pow.

Mt Bachelor - 10-15"

Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Montana get a little less over the next two days but should see more later in the week as well. Here is the next 2 days.

Sun Valley - 6-8"
Big Sky - 5-7"
Alta - 3-5"
Solitude - 3-5"
Jackson Hole - 3-5"

Long-range…with all those storms stacking up in the North Pacific it looks like we have a long storm train moving through the higher latitudes of the US. We can expect some steady cold temps and consistent snow/ice/rain for most of the northern US and Canada resorts for at least the next week but likely through the upcoming weekend and into next week. Looks like a lot of fresh tracks!

Check back my next update will be next Monday!

Plenty of White Stuff

While we aren’t going to see the wholesale dumping that we had across the country over Christmas it does look like we are going to have some fairly healthy activity for the resorts in the Pacific Northwest, The Northern Rockies, and the Northeastern States.

We really got hit pretty hard over the first part of the Holiday vacation. For example some areas of Southern California, which isn’t known for its might snowfalls, had nearly 3-4’ of snow falling in a single day (crazy!). These storm system made its way across the US and just worked a grip of resorts as it headed east. In particular the Utah and Wyoming Resorts had a ton of new snow…so much in fact that Jackson Hole had an avalanche which caused an in-bounds fatality. Check out the Fuel.tv story here.

Avalanche Kills Skier in Jackson Hole

It is always important to remember that our sport has a lot of risks…and while new snow is awesome on some levels it can create some very hazardous conditions at the same time. Please be safe out there.

As for the forecast we currently have a mix of high-pressure holding position across most of the middle of the country with pockets stretching from Southern California over to Texas and into the Midwest states. Further North we have one stormy low-pressure that is moving over the Great Lakes and into the NE…creating, wait for it, more lake-effect snow.

There is also a semi-new low-pressure moving into the Pacific NW sending in a ton of rain for the Coastal areas, even some potential flash floods for Oregon and Northern California coasts. This is also brining plenty of snow to the higher elevations…at this point Mt. Hood looks like it will have another 12-15” of snow over the next couple of days…and probably more later in the week as well.

Check out the current analysis map for the US and you can see the active areas.



Here are how some of the resorts are going to fair over the next few days.

West Coast Resorts

Mammoth Mountain
Base: 64-100”
New Surface: none
Snow Forecast Next 2 Days: 0”

Heavenly Mountain Resort
Base: 34-48”
New Surface: nope
Snow Forecast Next 2 Days: 0”

Mt Hood
Base: 17-52”
New Surface: incoming
Snow Forecast Next 2 Days: 10-15”

Whistler / Blackcomb
Base: 32”
New Surface: 1”
Snow Forecast Next 2 Days: 0”

Rocky Mountain Resorts

Sun Valley
Base: 42-48”
New Surface: none
Snow Forecast Next 2 Days: 4-6”

Jackson Hole
Base: 58-72”
New Surface: 8-10”
Snow Forecast Next 2 Days: 5-7”

Aspen / Snowmass
Base: 22-32”
New Surface: none
Snow Forecast Next 2 Days: 0”


East Coast Resorts

Whiteface
Base: 26-32”
New Surface: 0”
Snow Forecast Next 2 Days: 1-2”

Sugarbush Resort
Base: 26-48”
New Surface: 0”
Snow Forecast Next 2 Days: 0”

Black Mountain
Base: 15-36”
New Surface: 0”
Snow Forecast Next 2 Days: 0”

Long-Range Outlook

Like I said above long-range is continuing to look pretty active for the Northern States…basically draw a line from the border of Northern California across the US and anything above that line is going to see a couple of lows push across over the next couple of days. The current front moves out of the Pacific NW and drops some snow across Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas through the middle of the week. Another strong system starts the same process later in the week so it looks like more snow for those areas by the weekend.






Anyways that is what I got for the winter forecast…I’ll be back next Monday with the new update.

A Freaking White Christmas!

I hope you all get new snow gear for the holidays…’cause we are going to have a lot of snow coming down over the next week.

We just had a nice storm system batter the West Coast dropping 3-4’ of snow across most of the Sierras from Southern California all the way up through Oregon/Washington and British Colombia (isn’t that the 52nd state or something yet?...just kidding, all you Canadians can save the death threats for another time). Anyway that storm had pushed off the east and has been dumping all sorts of snow across the Northeast US.



Even some of the other Fuel.tv bloggers have been posting about the snow that fell last week. Check out this update from Mt Bachelor in Oregon. 3-feet of freshies!

http://fueltv.fuel.tv/FUELTVED/blogs/view/4874?item=35020&type=Blog

The best news is that Mother Nature isn’t taking much holiday time off…if anything she is just taking a couple of short days to reload the storm track. Already we are seeing another cold front moving in from the Gulf of Alaska and more warm moist lows moving up from around Mainland Mexico. The result is a bunch of unstable air moving over the US West Coast that is already starting to drop new snow on the Sierras. HIDEF (High-Def yo!) radar is already seeing some action.




This new storm will dump anywhere from 6-8” of new snow for most resorts in the affected areas on Monday and into Tuesday. Oregon Resorts like Mount Hood will actually get the brunt of the storm and current forecasts are calling for nearly a foot to a foot and a half of fresh powder over the next couple of days. Here are a few of the top West Coast resorts and how they fair for the first part of our holiday vacation.

West Coast Resorts

Mammoth Mountain
Base: 38-72”
New Surface: none yet
Snow Forecast Next 2 Days: 4-6”

Heavenly Mountain Resort
Base: 26”
New Surface: wait for it
Snow Forecast Next 2 Days: 6-8”

Mt Hood
Base: 17-24”
New Surface: hurry up will ya
Snow Forecast Next 2 Days: 10-15”

Whistler / Blackcomb
Base: 29”
New Surface: 6” it is snowing right now eh!
Snow Forecast Next 2 Days: 1-3”

The storm eventually moves out over the Rockies and sort of bunches up over Idaho and Wyoming, while Colorado sees a new front from the South start to energize some of the snowfall on the Eastern Side of the Rockies. Looks like the heaviest snowfall hits on the Western ranges of the Rockies but I would expect a decent drop all across the mountains from CO up into Canada.

Check out the NW Forecast for Tuesday (Which is when the storm really moves into the area).




Rocky Mountain Resorts

Sun Valley
Base: 14-22”
New Surface: none yet
Snow Forecast Next 2 Days: 6-10”

Jackson Hole
Base: 34-41”
New Surface: none yet
Snow Forecast Next 2 Days: 10-15”

Aspen / Snowmass
Base: 20-30”
New Surface: 1 angry inch!
Snow Forecast Next 2 Days: 6-10”

Eventually this storm pushes further east and helps stoke up more Lake-Effect Snow…and helps to dump a lot more snow across the Northeast outside of the (totally shafted) lake areas.

East Coast Resorts

Whiteface
Base: 24-30”
New Surface: 8”
Snow Forecast Next 2 Days: 4-6”

Sugarbush Resort
Base: 20-56”
New Surface: 9”
Snow Forecast Next 2 Days: 6-8”

Black Mountain
Base: 15-36”
New Surface: 8-10” John Holms style!
Snow Forecast Next 2 Days: 6-10”

Long-Range Outlook

While this week’s snowfall is looking good…it isn’t the end…we still have a couple of new storms brewing in the pipeline. In particular there is another, strong-looking, low-pressure that is going to pull together just off the Pacific NW/California Coast right around Christmas and move onshore later as we head into the weekend following Christmas. Right now I am expecting at minimum another 6”+ of new snow (and probably much more) from this system as it moves over the Sierras…and lots more for the resorts further eastward as it eventually moves that way before the new years.

Anyways that is what I got for the winter forecast…I’ll be back next Monday with the new update. In the meantime…Let it snow!

Old Man Winter Breaks Loose!

Winter is certainly starting to kick in over on the West Coast…storm action started to move in on Saturday and Sunday and it looks like the most intense portion of the storm train will be arriving over the next 24-48 hours.

This is good news since we have been waiting a while for some significant snowfall…oh we had a couple of sweet early season storms that teased us with some decent November snow, but mother nature went all wonky on us and cranked down the screws on the storm track. It let us get a couple of weeks of fun surf but no new powpow.

The east coast has been on marginal side as well but these systems moving into California and the West are generally considered “upstream” of the East Coast Resorts…so it they come down heavy on the Westside they usually produce as they move out east.

The West Coast is already seeing the leading edge of the new storm action…you can even see it on the HI-DEF Radar on Weather.Fox.com…check it out. (I see some lovely ice-blue landing on the Sierras.)



You can expect this activity to push further east and eventually spread through most of the midwest (from Cali to Colorado and up into Idaho and Wyoming as well).

Right now California Resorts like Mammoth and Heavenly, pretty much anywhere in the Central/Sierras but particularly throughout the Tahoe Basin, are expecting 10-15” of new snow over the next couple of days.

This storm dries out a bit as it pushes towards the Rockies but many of the Resort areas on the windward side of the mountains can expect about 3-5” of new snow as we head toward Tuesday.

The Midwest states are also seeing a front move through but this one is a bit warm…at least currently. You can see that it is producing mostly rain (and sometimes ice) but no new real snowfall.



This is being followed by a very cold ridge of high pressure that is effectively pushing the front along and is cooling temps enough in its wake that it is producing some snow around Minnesota and the upper Great Lakes areas.

You can see a great example of this ridge on the NWS temperature charts…look at the frigid temps spread across most of the Rockies and the Dakotas.



That cold air-mass is going to hold in place and let the new storms approaching from the west smash into it sort of like a big ass jetty in the ocean…as the storms “break” against the cold air they will get even less stable than they already are and will start dropping snow.

You can see what I mean on the bigger NWS national map…



Anyway the long-range forecast is going to unfold a bit like this. The storms hitting California will push off to the east after dumping snow across most of the Sierras, parts of Nevada, and eventually Utah/Idaho.

The storm will dry out a bit as it passes over the Rockies mid-week but it should still be able to set up some light snowfall for the Midwest. By Friday the storm will get some more reinforcement of wetter air as it drifts up from the SE and helps to add some moisture to the mix as the low-pressure eventually pushes over the NE states.

By next Friday New York, and the New England states should be seeing another round of snowfall with some heavy stuff falling around the Eastern Great Lakes and across western NY and VT.

Things look a little less snowy for next week but don’t dwell in it… that is a waaaays out on the forecast charts and we could see things change pretty fast…try and enjoy this week!

Have a good one! Next forecast will be on Monday December 22nd (I hope Santa brings me another foot of powder!).