US and Canada Daily Snow
By Joel Gratz, Founding Meteorologist Posted 4 years ago January 2, 2020
Get to British Columbia & the Northwest
Summary
We’ll ring in 2020 with a phenomenal pattern that will bring continuous storms and cold air to western Canada and the Northwestern United States. If you’re looking for deep snow and many powder days, this will be the place to be.
Short Term Forecast
State of the Snow
Thanks to a government network of backcountry weather stations called SNOTEL, we can look at the snow water equivalent versus the average for a particular date during the winter. This season, we closed out the year 2019 with about two-thirds of the western United States enjoying a deeper-than-average snowpack while the Northwest is measuring only 40-60% of average.
The good news is that the upcoming weather pattern should help the Northwest to recover from this early-season snow drought.
Forecast for Thu, Jan 2 – Fri, Jan 3
We’ll end this week with a big storm for British Columbia and moderate powder days over the Northern Rockies and southward into Utah and Colorado.
Forecast for Sat, Jan 4 – Sun, Jan 5
The weekend will bring action to the northern corners of North America. The Northwest will see another storm while the Northeast has the potential for significant snow. It’s a bit too early to know if the northeastern storm will bring mostly snow or if warm air will create sleet, freezing rain, or rain for many mountains.
Forecast for Mon, Jan 6 – Fri, Jan 10
The theme of the weekend, with snow in the Northwest and Northeast, will continue through most of next week. Storm after storm will bring significant snow and low snow levels to the Northwest and also the Northern Rockies. The Northeast will also see action, though as always there is a threat for some mixed precipitation.
Extended Forecast
Outlook for Sat, Jan 11 – Wed, Jan 15
The 10-15 day outlook doesn’t get much clearer than this. The western United States should see plenty of snow and cold air between about January 11-15 and this favorable pattern might last further into the month.
Thanks so much for reading and please check back for my next post on Monday, January 6th.
JOEL GRATZ
Announcements
New Daily Snow forecasts this season → British Columbia, Alberta, and New Mexico
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