Good storm for the Canadian Rockies

A storm early this week delivered the goods to the Canadian Rockies with deep 48-hour storm totals reported on the Alberta side at Banff Sunshine (45 cm / 18"), Lake Louise (42 cm / 17"), and Castle Mountain (41 cm / 16") as of Tuesday morning. Check out the scene from Lake Louise during the heart of the storm on Monday.

Many areas in British Columbia and Washington scored deep totals in this storm cycle as well, including Shames Mountain, Kicking Horse, Manning Park, Mt. Baker, Crystal Mountain, and White Pass.

Forecast for Wed, Feb 24 – Thu, Feb 25

Another storm will impact the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies on Wednesday night and Thursday with low snow levels expected. A weak storm will bring light snow to the Rockies on Wednesday, before turning into an upslope event for the Colorado Front Range on Thursday.

A weak storm will bring light precipitation to New England on Wednesday and Thursday with snow for the higher elevation resorts and a rain/snow mix for lower elevation resorts.

Forecast for Fri, Feb 26 – Sat, Feb 27

Snow will fall across the Cascades and Northern U.S. Rockies on Friday and into early Saturday. Meanwhile, the next storm will begin to impact Northwest British Columbia and Southeast Alaska on Saturday.

Another storm will impact the East on Friday and Saturday with most areas starting out as snow before changing to rain. Higher elevation Northern New England resorts may be able to escape rain issues, though it could be a close call. 

Forecast for Sun, Feb 28 – Mon, Mar 1

Another series of storms will impact Alaska and British Columbia on Sunday and Monday, with some question marks on how far south the heavier snow extends and whether or not Southern BC and the Northwest U.S. get in on the action. Another storm is possible in the Northeast during this time as well with some combination of rain and snow. 

Outlook for Tue, Mar 2 – Sat, Mar 6

The pattern will continue to favor British Columbia with frequent storms during the first week of March. Meanwhile, a cut-off low is projected to meander into California and the Southwest U.S. which could result in snow for some areas. The East looks relatively quiet but could see some weaker storms that bring a mixture of rain and snow.

Thanks so much for reading! Check back for my next post on Friday, February 26th.

ALAN SMITH

NEW: Estimated Snowfall Maps

In addition to the Current & Forecast Radar, Estimated Snow Depth, Wind Gust Forecast, and Avalanche Forecast maps, we now have Estimated 24-Hour Snowfall and Estimated Season-to-Date Snowfall map layers on OpenSnow!

The data will update daily, around 20z (1 PM Mountain), with the latest available information. The delay in updating to the early afternoon is due to the accuracy of the data being improved each hour after it’s initially available at 14z (7 AM Mountain).

NOAA continues to update the data each hour with the latest available data from SNOTEL sites and local observations and we’ve found that the quality/accuracy improves significantly after about 6 hours.

And to clarify one more time, these new maps are estimates and they will not always match what is reported on OpenSnow, directly from the ski resorts.

For the OpenSnow iOS app, make sure you’re updated to v3.5.5

For the OpenSnow Android app, make sure you’re updated to v3.5.6

View all of our map overlays on any device by upgrading to All-Access for $29.99/year (Single) or $39.99/year (Group). The subscription includes unlimited Daily Snow reads, 5-day hourly forecasts, 10-day snow forecasts, and much more.

More Info → NEW: Estimated Snowfall Maps