Big Storm Cycle for British Columbia and Alberta

Western Canada has enjoyed an outstanding storm cycle over the past 7 days with deep totals adding up throughout British Columbia and Western Alberta. Check out the photo below from Kicking Horse, British Columbia last weekend. Kicking Horse received 105 cm (42 inches) of snow over the 7-day period from December 16th-22nd with similarly deep totals across the BC Powder Highway, BC Coast Range, and the Canadian Rockies in Alberta.

Forecast for Wed, Dec 23 – Fri, Dec 25

Snow will linger across Colorado early on Wednesday, then the focus will shift to the East as this storm moves across the country. Snow will develop across the Central/Southern Appalachians and Eastern Great Lakes region on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, while New England will be in the warm sector and will see mostly rain.

In the West, Alaska and Northern British Columbia will see heavy snow on Wednesday and Thursday, before the next storm moves into the Western U.S. on Friday (Christmas Day) with snow beginning across the Cascades.

 

Forecast for Sat, Dec 26 – Sun, Dec 27

The next storm will bring heavy snow to the Cascades and Sierras on Saturday and light to moderate snow to the Northern and Central Rockies late Saturday and into Sunday. Tahoe looks to be the most favored region with this storm. In the East, the lake effect regions in Western New York will pick up light to moderate snow on Saturday and Saturday.

Forecast for Mon, Dec 28

The next storm will move into California on Monday with snow developing across the Sierras and possibly extending into the Southern California mountains as well. Another storm will also arrive in the East on Monday, with precipitation likely starting out as rain for most areas before possibly changing to snow, though a great deal of uncertainty exists.

Outlook for Tue, Dec 29 – Sat, Jan 2

The storm track will favor the Southern Rockies early in this period including Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. Around the 30th or 31st, the East could see another storm as well. Toward the end of this period, a more active pattern should start to set up over the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada once again.

Thanks so much for reading! Check back for my next post on Friday, December 25th.

ALAN SMITH

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