After a quick break, winter is scheduled to return as February sings its swan song. Forecasters are calling for a mega dump in the mountains of the West Coast, including most northern ranges. It’s looking like the snow could get deep.
“A series of storms will overspread the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia and much of the Rockies, peaking Sunday-Tuesday (Storm #1) with a continued surge of moisture aimed at the mountains mid to late next week,” wrote the good people at Powderchasers.com. “This system starts out very warm and windy ending with bitter cold temps. Snow continues mid-to-late next week favoring the PNW and Canada. Some moisture will spill over the Rockies mid-to-late next week as well. Storm totals in the next 7 days could exceed 5-6 feet, especially in the Cascades.”
Powderchasers added that the Sierra is still an unknown wildcard for this part of the storm cycle. Definitely bank on the Tahoe Basin and north if you’re looking to score Northern California/Southern Oregon. The main focus in the near term is the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies. Places like Whistler, Mt. Baker, and Mt. Bachelor (see video above) are about to have the tap opened wide. According to Powderchasers, Central to Northern Idaho, Northern Montana, and Western Wyoming could score as well.
If one were chasing pow, the first part of next week in the Pac NW looks as though it could get tasty, with temperatures going way down and snow quality looking to go way up. Jackson Hole could get 7-14 inches by Tuesday, when the cold sets in. Utah is also set to see quality come its way as well. The Cottonwood Canyons are looking at 10-20 inches of Cold Smoke by Tuesday and the Ogden Resorts, including Powder Mountain and Snowbasin should get 9-15 inches by Monday night/Tuesday morning. All in all, the northern part of the West is gonna get pummeled.
And it doesn’t sound as if things will slow down. “A series of storms will keep conditions unsettled for the PNW with significant totals expected mid to late next week,” concluded Powderchasers. “Some of this will work into the Rockies.”
Stay tuned with more forecasts to come next week. We’ll also share some snow totals from around the region following this storm. Go get it!
