US and Canada Daily Snow
By Joel Gratz, Founding Meteorologist Posted 5 years ago October 14, 2019
Multiple snowstorms this week
Summary
Lift-serviced skiing has started in Colorado and three storms are coming up for the western US and Canada during the next 7-10 days. The deepest totals should be in Canada and the northern Rockies, though areas as far south as Utah and Colorado should also see fresh snow. Welcome back, winter!
Short Term Forecast
Ski Season has Started
If your definition of the start of ski season is when lifts start spinning, then the season has started as Arapahoe Basin in Colorado started lift-serviced skiing on the afternoon of Friday, October 11. Shortly after, nearby Keystone Colorado began spinning their lifts on the morning of Saturday, October 12.
While that is happening in Colorado, the deepest depth of snow on the ground is in western Alberta in Canada where locals have been enjoying deep backcountry (non-lift serviced) turns for two weeks.
Forecast for Mon, Oct 14 – Tue, Oct 15
The first storm of the week will hit western Canada on Monday and Tuesday with just light snow amounts extending south to Idaho and Montana. This will be a weak system.
Forecast for Wed, Oct 16 – Fri, Oct 18
The second storm of the week will be stronger, with significant totals for western Canada and at least a few inches for the mountains of the northern and central Rockies in the United States.
Forecast for Sat, Oct 19 – Tue, Oct 22
The third storm of the week will be partially created by the remnants of Super Typhoon Hagibis which made landfall in Japan one week earlier on Saturday, October 12th. This system will bring significant snow again to Canada, and most areas of the western United States should also see significant snow over the weekend and into early next week, though it’s too far out to have confidence in exact totals.
Extended Forecast
Outlook for Wed, Oct 23 – Sun, Oct 27
The storm that should wrap up in the western United States around Tuesday, October 22 will push east and bring stormier and cooler conditions to the central or eastern part of North America.
Most models are showing a warming and drying trend for the west coast, though that doesn’t preclude a chance for storms to sneak into northwestern Canada and move south along the Rocky Mountains.
Thanks so much for reading, and stay tuned for the next update on Thursday, October 17th.
JOEL GRATZ
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