The snow stake on Thursday morning shows 4 inches of new snow and all of this fell on Wednesday night. I thought that we might see “1-3+ inches” on Wednesday night and 4 inches is nicely above my expectation. Northwest flow is a fickle beast and apparently the perfect combination of some energy from the jet stream, a favorable northwest wind, and ideal temperatures let the atmosphere bring us a nice surprise. The new snow should be light and fluffy thanks to the cooling temperatures.

On Thursday and Thursday night, snow showers should continue with a few inches of accumulation. Some models show more snow, some show less, and this pattern of persistent flow from the northwest can be tricky to forecast. I’ll leave the forecast as “a few more inches” and we’ll see how it shakes out.

Friday should offer a break in the snow.

Then we’ll see one more wave of snow on Friday night with snow nearly perfectly timed to fall between Friday sunset and Saturday sunrise. You should wake up on Saturday morning to a few inches of freshies with softer turns for first tracks.

From Saturday afternoon through Sunday, expect dry weather. Don’t worry, this will just be a short break in between storms.

For next week, we’ll see snow start up on Monday and we could see multiple waves of snow through Friday. I am thinking about next week similar to how I thought about this week. Multiple systems, small-to-moderate amounts from each system, low expectations, snow getting softer through the week, maybe a surprisingly deep day or two.

And then another storm should arrive around February 3-4.

We’re in a good pattern and I hope that you’re able to enjoy it.

Thanks for reading and check back each morning for daily updates!

JOEL GRATZ
Meteorologist at OpenSnow.com
Contact me: [email protected]

Snow conditions as of Thursday morning

New snow mid-mountain:
* 4” (24 hours Wednesday 500am to Thursday 500am)
* 4” (Overnight Wednesday 400pm to Thursday 500am)

Last snowfall:
* 7” from Tuesday to Thursday (Jan 21-23)

Terrain
* 23 of 23 lifts
* 143 of 149 trails
* Latest update

Snowpack compared to the 30-year average:
* 108%