Jackson Hole could see plenty of action in this storm, too. Photo: Natural Selection
Those of you who’ve been waxing your boards for the last month have not done so in vain. According to multiple reports, the Western U.S. is set to get a rather large snowstorm to close out October, bringing with it mid-season weather, and yes, light, dry powder – between 12 and 25 inches according to our friends at PowderChasers.com.
“EPIC amounts of snowfall are a certainty for many areas of the West,” wrote the forecasters at PowderChasers. “The weather models are coming into synch for an excess of 12-18 inches for the northern Cascades, 20-plus inches for some mountain peaks in Montana and Wyoming, with Idaho not far behind. Utah is a bit of a wildcard with the coldest temps further north, however one model still shows decent totals (5-10). Colorado and the Sierra get their best chances late this weekend with a second surge of cold air and powder Saturday to late Sunday. Everyone wins in the next seven days.”
That’s one hell of a forecast. Especially for those of us who’ve been waiting on snow after a relatively slow period for waves on the West Coast, although that has changed too recently.
The forecasts are seemingly aligning to say the same thing: the West is about to get pummeled. Some resorts, like Loveland and A-Basin in Colorado, might be close to opening as they seemingly always race to be the first in early November. Regardless, turns will be had in the high country soon.
“We could see some initial rain at (lower elevations) before the passage of the cold front very late Tuesday (around midnight) but snow levels will quickly drop down to around 5,500 feet overnight into Wednesday,” wrote Mathew Platt, a forecaster for Open Snow who covers Idaho. “Wednesday will be even colder with temperatures dropping throughout the day and freezing levels will bottom out around 2,ooo feet by Thursday morning.”
Yes, winter just entered the building.
