Photo: WeatherBELL
This winter in the U.S. got off to a slow start relative to the chaos that was the winter of 2023. But while many notable regions throughout North America won’t hit last year’s snowfall totals, it’s safe to say things are finally in full swing now.
The powder alerts rang loud to start this week with the Pacific Northwest getting the most promising forecast up front.
“The week ahead will be very very deep in the PNW (Coastal BC) with 2-5 feet likely, especially for Washington and Oregon,” wrote Powderchasers on Monday. “Moderate leftovers will aim towards the interior of BC and the northern panhandle of Idaho with 12-15 inches in the next 24-48 hours. Northern Montana will also stay in the flow. The Tetons finally get back on the map with double digits with the Wasatch and northern Colorado scoring.”
Now that the week is winding down and we’re looking toward a fresh (three-day) weekend, powderhounds in Utah are potentially facing a bounty of fresh snow. Solitude Mountain Resort, for example, announced they expect more than 70 inches of snow in a little over a week.
That’s a moderate prediction though, according to Snowbrains. The snow forecasting site says the atmospheric river pushing for the Oregon/California border is going to dump a lot of snow on Utah resorts over the next few days.
“This type of setup is ideal for huge snow totals, with a very moist air mass running into the massive Wasatch Front and dumping large amounts of liquid in a very cold environment,” they wrote Wednesday. “We are looking at a few inches of precipitation across most Northern Utah mountains. With air as cold as it appears to be this weekend, we are likely going to see 15-1 or even 20-1 snow-liquid ratios. That would mean multiple feet of snow in the mountains this weekend alone. Models are on board with this, as most ensemble members have 100-plus inches of new snow at Alta by Monday.” That means Snowbird, right next door (and more friendly to snowboarders) will get huge amounts of Wasatch cold smoke as well.
Perfect timing for a three-day weekend.
