48-hour reported fresh snow as of 7 AM Wednesday:

• Big Sky 7” – 11"
• Bridger Bowl 6”
• Lookout Pass 3 – 6”
• Montana Snowbowl 2 – 4”
• Discovery 3 – 5”
• Whitefish 3”
• Blacktail Mountain 3”
• Showdown 2”
• Red Lodge 1”
• Lost Trail Pass 1”
• Great Divide ½”

A few recent powdery images from Big Sky, just before the latest batch of snow. Late March is generally a good time to head to Big Sky and it appears to be delivering again this season. (Images BSR)

Wednesday, March 27 – Friday, March 29

On Wednesday, a brief lull in the active weather as a weak ridge of high-pressure builds in between a departing trough and an incoming trough circulating in the Pacific off the Oregon Coast.

The weak ridge will enable a SW flow bringing a noticeable warm-up of several degrees across the Northern Rockies. On Wednesday, West of the Divide will see mainly cloudy skies with isolated sunny spells. East of the Divide will see mostly sunny skies, before transitioning to increasing clouds through the late afternoon hours.

Freeze/thaw conditions will return on Wednesday with most upper-mountain temps rising above freezing across the state. Moderate and gusty SW winds develop during the afternoon, mainly east of the Divide, with ridgetop gusts of 25 – 30 mph.   

On Wednesday night, a deep Pacific upper trough off the PNW will dig south and become cut off from the upper jet stream. This looks to split the flow sending a weaker shortwave disturbance into the Northern Rockies overnight and through the day on Thursday.

Not much change from my last forecast, as light accumulations are likely from Wednesday night through Friday morning in the 1 – 5” range for the mountains west of the Divide, with the higher end of the range across West Central locations Lookout Pass, Snowbowl, and Discovery.

East of the Divide, Big Sky continues to ride the late March wave possibly adding another 4 - 8 ” to the Lone Mountain snowpack through Friday morning. Bridger Bowl, Red Lodge, and elsewhere, 1 – 4”. Friday looks to be a prime day at Big Sky.  

Slightly cooler on Thursday 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.

The trough over the Northern Rockies will keep the skies cool and unsettled on Friday with trace accumulations to an inch or two across the mountain west of the Divide. Lookout and Lost Trail passes look best positioned.

East of the Divide, mostly cloudy with periods of sun, and a few isolated flurries. Yep, looking like a great day for eastsider’s to get out and hopefully rip some freshies.  

Friday’s upper mountain high temps will range from the upper 20s to low 30s across the region. Enjoy the winter conditions while they last…

Light SW winds across the region.  

 

Over the weekend, the deep Pacific trough slowly progresses south digging down towards Southern California keeping a residual weaker trough expanding over the Northern Rockies.

Skies remain unsettled across the state with SW Montana (Big Sky, Bridger Bowl, and Red Lodge) still looking best positioned for light accumulations in the 3 – 6” range from Friday night through Sunday morning. Whitefish, Lookout, Showdown, and elsewhere across the region 1 – 4” are likely.

Ensembles build back a high-pressure ridge on Monday that will likely dry the skies through Wednesday. Temps will be on the rise upwards to above seasonal averages beginning on Monday. Spring conditions look to be in the cards for most of next week at this point. Corny and slushy conditions loom… Stay tuned.

Climate Prediction Center's 6 - 10 Day appears to keep Montana, east of the Continental Divide in a slightly cooler than average unsettled pattern. 

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

Powder Out -

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