View through Pioneer Yurt Dome Courtesy Sun Valley Trekking

 

Today and Tonight

It is warm up on the mountain this morning. That means the snow is soft from top to bottom for Spring Breakers to carve out the last turns of the season. Two rounds of storms will punch through this afternoon from the southwest for some unsettled weather. The first batch between 2 and 4 pm and another stronger wave right around sunset for the night skiers/riders/. There will likely be some thunder and lightning in the last wave that will usher in colder air for later this week. We’re not looking for much low elevation snow today or tonight but this pattern change will set us up for the stronger storm on Friday.  Here’s how it all looks on this morning’s satellite loop (below). The Dark Blue blob of moisture moving into eastern Oregon now is the feature to watch today. The darker Black colors off the coast will deliver the weekend storm!

GOES-West Water Vapor Satellite Loop Courtesy NOAA

Wednesday and Thursday

Look for just a light dusting of snow but otherwise a little cooler and less windy. Although it isn’t much in terms of accumulation, it’s always a good thing to see snow forecast amounts on the Opensnow leader board:

Friday March 24 to Sunday March 26

This is shaping up to be a pretty decent storm that will stretch over a couple days beginning Friday. Look for at least 4 to 6 inches, not too shabby considering we’ve been close to 50 degrees this week!

GFS Forecast 24-Hour Snowfall Courtesy Tropical Tidbits

Friday Afternoon Through Saturday Afternoon, Purple colors ~ 6 inches

 

The storm will continue to bring more snow over the Sawtooth and Smoky ranges where it’s still very much winter, according to the Sawtooth Avalanche Center. They had an amazing video from Titus Ridge near Galena Summit Sunday on their you tube channel showing the contrast in high-elevation, backcountry conditions. You can check it out at:  https://youtu.be/zxhhOGfQRwk

Here’s the down-scaled ensemble forecast for that very site (below).  Notice the stairstep look to this with not much snow accumulation for the period through Friday but then a nice ramp up to about 15 inches from Saturday morning (March 25^th 12Z) through early next week:

NAEF Snowfall Forecast for Titus Study Plot Courtesy University of Utah

 

Tuesday March 28 through Sunday April 3

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center 8 to 14 day outlook continues to favor below-normal temperatures and higher-than-normal chance of precipitation. You know what that means, Powderhounds! More SNOW!

Courtesy NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center

 

Thank you for reading.

Coleen

2Fer Tuesday Today at Bogus Basin: http://bogusbasin.org/event/2fer-tuesday/2017-03-21/

Wednesday, March 22: Corn Snow Prom with the Vertigals at Bogus Basin

Sun Valley Spring Break Blog:

https://www.sunvalley.com/blog/skiing-riding/spring-into-spring-break

 

Avalanche Information Updates: Consult the websites below for updates as conditions will be changing with the shifting weather pattern through late this week.

http://payetteavalanche.org/

http://www.sawtoothavalanche.com/