Weekly snow forecast favors the west

US and Canada Daily Snow

Heads up, there may be fresher snow! Read the latest US and Canada Daily Snow

By Joel Gratz, Founding Meteorologist Posted 5 years ago December 10, 2018

Summary

We are coming off a week where Colorado saw snow almost every day and a weekend that brought 1-2 FEET of snow to North Carolina. For the upcoming week, the action will shift to the Pacific Northwest where 3+ FEET of snow could fall during the next 10 days.

Short Term Forecast

Southeast Powder!

Big-time snow in the southeast happens infrequently, so let’s celebrate the deepness! Mountains in western North Carolina reported 10-15 inches of snow on Sunday morning (December 9) and an additional 5-10 inches will likely accumulate on Sunday.

Below: Powder day at Appalachian Ski Mountain in North Carolina!

Consistent snow in Colorado

Something else that doesn’t happen very frequently is 10 days of consistent snow in Colorado. Yes, it snows a lot during the season in Colorado, but there are often dry days between storms.

This past week was a delightful exception as most of Colorado’s central and northern mountains saw snow on 6-10 of the past 11 days. This consistent snowfall is the key to creating soft conditions. What a start to the season!

Forecast for Monday to Friday

For the week ahead, from Monday, December 10 to Friday, December 14, will bring lots of action to the Pacific Northwest.

The Northwest should see 1-3+ FEET of snow during the next 5-7 days. This snow is a welcome sight after a dry start to the season. Also, on Wednesday and Thursday, one of the storms from the northwest will push further east, bringing snow to Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado.

Below: The snow forecast for December 10-14. The Northwest will be deep with leftovers in the southeast.

Forecast for the weekend

For the upcoming weekend, December 15-16, the story will remain about the same. Most of the action will be over the Northwest, and also, snow should return to northern California, including Tahoe.

Below: The snow forecast for December 15-16.

Extended Forecast

The longer-range outlook for temperatures hints that the western US and Canada could be stormy during the period from Monday, December 17 to Friday, December 21. It’s too soon to know how much snow will fall, and where, but an active pattern means that we’ll likely see excellent conditions leading up to the holiday week.

Below: The temperature outlook for December 17-21.