Britsh Columbia Scoring Early Season Goods

A powerful storm brought widespread heavy snow to British Columbia on Wednesday and Thursday with ski areas in the Coast Range and Columbia Mountains picking up significant snow totals. Sun Peaks received 22 cm (9") of snow from Wednesday morning through Thursday morning, and is looking good with a 100 cm (40") base and an opening day scheduled for this Saturday!

Forecast for Fri, Nov 20 – Sat, Nov 21

A storm will bring another round of snow to British Columbia and the Northern Washington Cascades on Friday, while a storm farther north will bring heavy snow to Alaska and the Northern BC Coast Range on Saturday. A weak storm will move across the Southern Rockies on Saturday with a round of light snow for Colorado.

Forecast for Sun, Nov 22

The pattern will take a break on Sunday across the mountainous regions in the Lower 48, while Northern and Western BC pick up more snow, favoring the Central and Northern Coast Range (Bella Coola, Shames Mountain).

Forecast for Mon, Nov 23 – Tue, Nov 24

On Monday, a storm will bring snow to the Pacific Northwest and Northern Idaho initially, before strengthening as it dives south into the Southern Rockies later on Monday and into Tuesday. The potential for good snow will exist in portions of Colorado and possibly Northern New Mexico, though models are currently in poor agreement regarding the storm track and overall strength.

A storm will also move across the Northeast on Monday and Tuesday, likely starting as rain but depending on the track/timing, higher elevations in Northern New England could see a change-over to snow.

And finally, a stronger storm will move into British Columbia on Tuesday with heavy snow likely for many areas.

Outlook for Wed 11/25 – Sun 11/29

Another storm is projected to move across the Northwest initially and then swing across the Rockies on Wednesday and Thursday, but models are in poor agreement with how far north or south the storm tracks. A storm will also be possible in New England on Wednesday/Thursday, though models are in poor agreement regarding the storm track and whether it stays north or south of the US-Canada border.

Otherwise, the most dominant storm track will continue to favor British Columbia and Washington during this period, though a warming trend will lead to rising snow levels toward the end of the period.

Thanks so much for reading, and check back for my next post on Monday, November 23rd.

ALAN SMITH

NEW: Avalanche Forecasts

Many folks have requested this over the past year and we're excited to now show avalanche forecasts for regions across North America. 

You can use our map view to see a quick overview of the avalanche forecast conditions and you can also go back in time for the last 7 days to see how the avalanche conditions have changed by using the slider at the bottom of the map.

Also, we integrated the avalanche forecast into each mountain location page under a new tab called "Avalanche Forecast". 

The avalanche forecasts are freely available and are the foundation of any backcountry experience. Please check these forecasts each time you head out of controlled terrain! 

You can view the avalanche forecasts right now on our website and they will be live on our iPhone and Android apps very soon.