Storms target northwest, southwest, and northeast

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 31, 2018

Summary

We’ll end 2018 with a powder day in the southwest, then the first few days of 2019 will bring two storms to the northeast and yet another storm to the northwest later in the week. This pattern could continue into the second week of January, with snow also returning to much of the southwest and Rockies.

Short Term Forecast

Forecast for this week

If you are skiing or riding on December 31st or January 1st, the best powder should be in Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico with 6-12 inches at the most favored mountains.

Over the northwest, December has been a phenomenal month with 5-10 feet of snow, and another significant storm should bring deep accumulations on Thursday and Friday.

And in the northeast, we’ll see two storms this week. The first storm on Tuesday into Wednesday will be warmer, with rain for many areas but snow for the mountains that are the furthest north. And the second storm on Thursday into Friday has a better chance of tracking a bit further east, which would mean snow for more ski areas.

Below is the snow forecast for this week.

Forecast for the weekend

In the northeast, snow might linger following the Thursday/Friday system.

In the other northern corner of the map below, we see yet another storm heading into the northwest.

And then the wrinkle in the forecast is the chance for a plume of moisture that might track from the southwest and hit California, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico from Sunday into early the following week (January 6-8).

Extended Forecast

Forecast into early 2019

The outlook for 8-12 days into the future shows that the weather pattern during the first week of 2019 will likely continue through the following week.

In the east, the better chance for cooler air and snow will be over northern New England, while somewhat warmer and moist systems likely push into the west coast and southwest.