February Snowfall

The map below shows the total precipitation from February 1 to February 26, compared to average, for the western United States. Blue and green colors highlight areas with near or above-average precipitation, and since this is February, nearly all of the precipitation falls as snow over the mountains. I drew a pink line to represent the general storm track, which favored the Northwest and the Northern Rockies with 100-250% of average precipitation.

Forecast for Thu, Feb 27 – Fri, Feb 28

The big story during the end of this week will be a strong storm over the Northeast. Like most eastern storms, there will be a rain/snow line to contend with, and north of this line, mountains could see 10+ inches of snow with powder on Thursday and Friday. On the other side of the continent, coastal British Columbia and extreme southeast Alaska will also see a lot (3-30 inches) of snow.

Forecast for Sat, Feb 29 – Sun, Mar 1

During the weekend, the Northeastern storm will exit and two new storms will bring snow to the west. The first storm will take a southwestern track, potentially bringing deep snow to Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado, with light snow for California (February has been dry in California, so even light snow is good news). The second storm will take a northwestern track, bringing significant snow to British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon.

Forecast for Mon, Mar 2 – Tue, Mar 3

The best bet for powder early next week will be in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. The weekend storm in the Northwest will hang around this area and slowly push into the central Rockies, so there should be a few days of snowfall and a solid day or two of powder. With cold air and snow over the west, the east will likely warm up, and next week’s storms could bring more rain and mixed precipitation than snow.

Outlook for Wed, Mar 4 – Sun, Mar 8

The end of the first week of March will deliver the coldest air and best chances for snow to the Northwest and the Northern Rockies (shown below).

Looking ahead to the second week of March (not shown), it’s likely that the stormy pattern will retreat westward to the west coast, and this means that and California might (finally!) see significant snowfall.

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

JOEL GRATZ

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