US and Canada Daily Snow
By Joel Gratz, Founding Meteorologist Posted 6 years ago January 29, 2018
Storm track shifts north and east
Summary
As we head into February, it appears that the storm track will resemble the same pattern that we saw for much of December. That means lots of snow in the Pacific Northwest, the Northern Rockies, the Upper Midwest, and the Northeast. This pattern may continue through at least the middle of February, if not longer.
Short Term Forecast
Last week, I wrote that the forecast going into early February was taking the storm track a bit further east, but that I was hopeful that some energy and cold air would stay west and would bring snow to the Rockies for another few days.
Now, most models are showing that the storm track will shift further east, and it’s likely that only the far northern Rockies and Pacific Northwest will see snow, while the east gets back into the cold and stormy pattern that they experienced in December.
Below is the snow forecast for this week, Monday, January 29th through Friday, February 2nd. I circled areas in blue that have the best chance for snow, and I drew the approximate storm track in pink.
As we push a bit further into February, from Saturday, February 3rd through Tuesday, February 6th, the storm track will likely not change very much. It’ll still favor the Pacific Northwest, the Northern Rockies, the Upper Midwest, and the Northeast.
While the snowfall totals look exceptional in the Northwest and the Northern Rockies, we need to be careful about the warm air that may invade these areas every few days. You’ll want to pay attention to the forecast temperatures and snow levels as there might be rain (or soggy snow) at lower elevations. Your best bet is to try to time the colder storms and focus on the higher-elevation ski areas.
Extended Forecast
Using the temperature forecast from an average of 51 versions of the European model, the 10-15 day outlook for February 7-11 shows a continuation of the pattern we just talked about – the most snow will be in the northern 1/3rd of the US and in Canada, with the coldest air near and east of the continental divide.
If you liked the weather pattern during December, you might like the weather pattern coming up during the first half of February. And if the likelihood of snow at your home mountain is low during the next few weeks, heading north and east might be your best bet.
Thanks for reading!
JOEL GRATZ
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Joel Gratz
Founding Meteorologist
Joel Gratz is the Founding Meteorologist of OpenSnow and has lived in Boulder, Colorado since 2003. Before moving to Colorado, he spent his childhood as a (not very fast) ski racer in eastern Pennsylvania.
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