Chase Powder Daily Snow

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By Powderchaser Steve, Forecaster Posted 3 years ago February 27, 2021

Updated POW - Less Wind

Summary

Snow continues for the Cascades Friday night (Oregon and Washington) while the Rockies continue to crank in a few spots for Saturday morning. Snow will continue into Saturday evening for Utah and Colorado.

Update

Today saw very impressive snow totals in the Cascades 12-20 inches albeit very strong gusts Thursday night created significant drifting and density in some areas. Reports from Crystal were deep but dense from the winds. I chased to Grand Targhee Friday morning and scored 7-8 inches of blower on top of a semi-frozen layer. Turns were fun, semi-deep, and especially good on the Blackfoot chair Friday morning. As I stated in a previous post, the deepest snow totals might not be your best chase (Please comment if you were in the PNW).  I chose Wyoming for Friday morning. 

Below: Here is the base area of Grand Targhee on Friday morning well entrenched in deep snow from a near-record February (394 inches YTD). The Ghee should surpass 400 inches by Saturday morning. 

Quick update: Significant snowfall will continue for the southern and central Cascades of Washington (Stevens Pass and south) with most of the Oregon ranges doing very well Friday night. The Short term high-resolution model shows isolated pockets (Banding) of heavier pockets, from Enumclaw (just north of Crystal) towards I-90. Other spots that will see intensive periods of snow are most of the Oregon Range for deep powder Saturday morning. Winds have decreased so quality at many PNW resorts (The western side is favored versus the interior) will ride well for Saturday. Look for new terrain openings. 

In the Rockies look for 6-10 inches for the Tetons Friday night. Winds start from the west (Slightly favored JHMR) and then shift to the NW which could put up some surprise totals for Targhee for Saturday morning. In the Wasatch Range of Utah, it's likely that most mountains pick up another 5-10 inches Friday night (Park City, Powder, Beaver (Wildcard) including Brighton. Winds from the NW will favor the Canyons side of Park City so there might be an upside surprise.10-18 inches are possible for Little Cottonwood between Friday night and Saturday evening.  Some models show significantly less snow, so there is still some uncertainty. Bottom Line: Good snow for the Tetons Friday night and most of northern and central Utah. Some higher amounts are likely for the Cottonwoods that continue to reap rewards through Saturday evening on certain model runs. Utah might reap the deepest totals during the day on Saturday for the Cottonwoods (Versus overnight). 

Update Saturday morning:  10-12 inches are being reported for most of all northern Utah resorts from Beaver Mountain to Snowbird. Pretty even spread so many options this morning. Little Cottonwood Canyon is closed for Avy control work. 

For Colorado snow begins late Friday night in the northern mountains and transitions to the southern mountains by Saturday midday. Favored locations for 7-9 inches are Steamboat, Aspen, Beaver Creek (Western side of I-70), and perhaps Vail. Snow is also noted for Grand County north of I-70 so Winter Park might be scoring. There might be less snow in Summit with my best guess at 4-7 inches by midday Saturday (Wildcard). Snow transitions to Telluride by Saturday midday (3-7). Even Taos grabs some light or moderate snow by late Sunday. 

Update: Saturday morning: Steamboat has 4-6 inches on the webcam and still snowing. Otherwise light snow will tease Colorado on Saturday with no major amounts expected along the I-70 corridor (2-4). Aspen might see slightly higher amounts. 

Enjoy the Pow everyone. High pressure takes hold early next week! I suspect the slopes will be very busy this weekend. 

Powderchaser Steve 

About Our Forecaster

Powderchaser Steve

Forecaster

Powderchaser Steve has over 45 years of experience chasing storms based on his weather and local knowledge of resorts on both the East and West Coasts. His snow intel will likely land him at the deepest resort and almost never missing "First Chair" in the process. Follow "The Chase" on OpenSnow to find out where the deepest snow may be falling.

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