Winter Wonderland in the Village Courtesy Sun Valley Resort

Summary

High pressure is full on today with an upper-level ridge. That means no new snow but above the clouds, we'll see blue sky. That's why they call it Sun Valley, right?

Short-Term Forecast

Today is starting out much like yesterday in a deja-vu weather pattern that is stagnated by this high pressure.  It's 20 degrees warmer at the top of the lift, which is flipped due to a temperature inversion. Seattle Ridge is running about 36 degrees to start out the day.  At the base, it is only 13 degrees.  We'll only warm up a few degrees by this afternoon.

There's not much more to the story than that right now, so for just for fun, and to quash the whiners let's take a look at our snow water equivalent (SWE). Last year on this date,  we had about half of the "normal" snowpack (Left).  Current snowpack (Right) is about 120% of "normal".  We're off to a good start in the Wood River Basin, well ahead of the game. We started out with some early season dumpage, then a warm up after Thanksgiving caused a lot of melting at lower elevations, while the high country maintained its snowpack.

Snow Water Equivalent Courtesy USDA/NRCS SNOTEL Program

Remember what a banner year last winter turned out to be?  Pun intended because Banner Summit is pretty epic right now. Looking at the image on the left, you wouldn't have expected it, huh?  I rest my case.

Extended Forecast

The extended forecast is much like the current weather, which is represented below by the European Ensemble computer forecast. Mild, dry weather is in store for a week - or two. 

There is actually some consistency in these models weakening the ridge enough around December 16th for some more active weather.  Stay tuned for updates during the next week and for goodness sake get out there and enjoy the Winter Festival - a grand kickoff to the holiday season.

Thanks for reading.

COLEEN HASKELL

Download the OpenSnow Mobile App

Stocking Stuffer idea for only $19: Sign up for a free or All-Access account to set favorites & snow alerts: https://opensnow.com/user/register

Daily forecast updates will be posted for the duration of the season, but PLEASE check the resort websites for the latest updates due to changing conditions and limited terrain. https://www.sunvalley.com/mountain-snow-report

Prepare for winter driving conditions before you head out on the roads, especially over mountain passes. This includes road closures during the winter months due to avalanche blasting. Get all the current conditions for Idaho including weather and webcams by clicking HERE.

Tomorrow Saturday, December 9

Winter Wonderland Festival 1 pm

Warren Miller’s Line of Descent at Sun Valley Opera House 2:30 pm – only $5.50

Sawtooth Mountain Guides is running Backcountry Basics courses this weekend