48-hour reported storm totals as of 7 AM Monday from across the Treasure State: 

•    Big Sky 9”
•    Discovery 9”
•    Whitefish 6” 
•    Great Divide 6”
•    Red Lodge 6” 
•    Lookout Pass 5” 
•    Lost Trail Pass 4”  
•    Bridger Bowl 3”
•    Showdown 3” 
•    Blacktail Mountain 3”  

Monday, March 25 – Wednesday, March 27 

The upper-level trough remains over the Northern Rockies through Tuesday keeping mostly cloudy skies, unseasonably cool temps, and isolated flurries/snow showers across the mountains on both sides of the Continental Divide. Daily chances of a skiff to a few inches will be likely on Monday and Tuesday. 

Lookout Pass looks most favored to see 2 – 4” from Monday night through Tuesday evening, with 1 – 3” at Snowbowl (closed Mon/Tues) and Big Sky. Trace amounts in the 1 – 2” range at Disco, and Whitefish. Cold and unsettled. 

Monday and Tuesday will see chilly morning lows ranging from the single digits where clouds clear off to low to mid-teens where there is cloud cover. Upper mountain afternoon high temps will climb into the mid to upper 20s. 

Light and variable west winds.

The NBM's latest model run below brings widespread chances of light accumulations through midnight Tuesday.  

 

On Wednesday, a brief lull in the light action as a weak ridge of high-pressure builds in between the departing trough and an incoming Pacific trough circulating off the PNW coast. 

The weak ridge will bring a SW flow enabling a warm-up of several degrees from Tuesday to the mountain temps across the region. Widespread partly sunny skies transition to increasing clouds by late afternoon. 

Freeze/thaw conditions will start back up on Wednesday with upper-mountain temps rising above freezing. Moderate and gusty SW winds across the Northern Rockies as well.  

A Pacific upper trough off the PNW will dig south and become cut off from the upper jet stream. This looks to send a shortwave disturbance into the Northern Rockies on Wednesday night/Thursday timeframe. 

Generally, light accumulations are possible from Wednesday night through Friday morning in the 1 – 4” range for the mountains west of the Divide, with 4 to 7” at Big Sky, and 1 – 4” possible for the rest of the ski areas east of the Divide. 

Slightly cooler on Thursday and Friday with upper mountain highs in the upper 20s to low 30s. Lower-mountain elevations will likely continue in the freeze/thaw cycle across the region. 

Over the weekend, the Pacific closed low will continue to dig south keeping the skies unsettled across mainly SW Montana where Big Sky, Bridger Bowl, and Red Lodge have the best chance for light accumulations Friday night through Sunday morning. 

Ensembles build back a high-pressure ridge on Sunday that will likely dry the skies through Tuesday. Temps will be on the move upwards rising to slightly above seasonal averages beginning next Monday. That said, things can change in the forecast that far out, so stay tuned.

The latest MT Snowpack Map by River Basin is growing slightly better but still needs more spring storms. 

 

Thanks for reading. The next update will be on Wednesday morning. 

Bob 

NEW: Snow Ratio Forecast

You can now get a good idea of the upcoming snow quality for the next storm via our new "Snow Ratio" forecast for any location in OpenSnow.

When we talk about snow quality, such as “light and fluffy” or “heavy and wet”, we are talking about the snow-to-liquid ratio. The higher the snow-to-liquid ratio, the lighter the snow quality, and vice-versa.

1. Go to any location screen and tap the "Snow Summary" tab.
2. Scroll down to the 5-day hourly or 10-day forecast section.
3. View the 5-day hourly or daily "Snow Ratio" forecast for the next 10 days.

10:1 will be fun but will feel a little heavy. 15:1 will offer some faceshots and feel pretty light. 20:1 will be incredibly light, almost like skiing through nothing but air.

This new feature is currently available with the latest version of the OpenSnow iOS app installed (App Store > OpenSnow > Update) or on the OpenSnow website (OpenSnow.com). It will be available in the OpenSnow Android app soon.

View → Snow Ratio Forecast