Snow Stakes

A wonderful development in the past decade is that many mountains have installed snow stake cameras. These are cams that point at a ruler and show how much snow has fallen. The proof is in the pictures!

Below are two snow stakes in Colorado that were buried with a storm on Tuesday, November 26.

Forecast for Wed, Nov 27 – Fri, Nov 29

The first 20 days of November were dry in the west, and now the snow gods are making up for the lost time. From Wednesday through Friday, California will see a few feet of snow with cold temperatures (light, fluffy snow) and additional deep totals will head to Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and southern Colorado.

Forecast for Sat, Nov 30 – Sun, Dec 1

Look for a possible powder day on Saturday morning in Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado as the storm pulls away. And to keep things interesting, another storm should bring snow to California though totals are less certain, anywhere from a few inches to a few feet (as shown below).

Outlook for Mon, Dec 2 – Fri, Dec 6

The storm track during the first week of December should focus on California, the northwest, and the east. It’s still a challenge to figure out which areas will see the most snow and when, though regardless of the details, this is a reasonably good pattern for much of North America.

Outlook for Sat, Dec 7 – Wed, Dec 11

The red on the map below looks a bit scary though these longer-range models are hinting that we’ll continue to see storminess. While it is ok to use this map as a loose guide to the future, please do not become too worried (or too excited) as forecast accuracy beyond 10 days is pretty bad.

Thanks so much for reading, and check back for my next post on Monday, December 2nd.

JOEL GRATZ

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