Recent snow totals across the West

An active pattern has benefited the West recently and snow conditions are quickly improving, but if you plan to hit the slopes this weekend then keep in mind that early season conditions still exist. The OpenSnow Powder Finder below reveals some of the deepest 5-day snow totals from Sunday 12/12 through Thursday 12/16. Check out the 78" report in 5 days at Kirkwood!

Also note that human snowfall reporting at ski resorts can be inconsistent, so some areas that received deep totals may not be shown here and some totals may be missing days. 

Forecast for Fri 12/17 – Sat 12/18:

A storm will bring moderate snow to the Central Rockies on Thursday night and early Friday morning before tapering off during the day on Friday. The next storm will bring heavy snow to British Columbia and the Washington Cascades on Friday night and Saturday with snow also picking up over the Idaho Panhandle and NW Montana. 

A storm will bring light snow to the Upper Midwest early on Saturday with moderate snow arriving over Upstate New York and New England on Saturday afternoon. Southern New York and Pennsylvania will see mixed precipitation from this storm. 

Forecast for Sun 12/19 – Mon 12/20:

A strong storm involving an atmospheric river will continue to impact the Northwest on Sunday and Monday with heavy snow for parts of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. Snow will fall across New England early on Sunday while colder air on the backside of the East Coast storm will result in a changeover from rain to light snow showers over the Mid-Atlantic.

Forecast for Tue 12/21 – Wed 12/22:

Confidence is relatively low in the progression of the next Western storm, but at this time we should expect to see increasing snow chances on Tuesday and Wednesday across the Sierra, Cascades, and Northern Rockies (and possibly the BC Coast Range) with the storm track favoring the Sierra for the deepest totals.

A series of weaker but colder disturbances over the Northeast will also bring light snow chances to New York and New England.

Outlook for Thu 12/23 – Mon 12/27:

The holiday weekend is looking active across the West with stronger and more frequent storms expected, favoring California with the most significant snowfall potential while the Pacific Northwest and the Northern & Central Rockies also look good. New England will also see a favorable pattern with colder temperatures and frequent snow chances. 

Thanks so much for reading! Next update on Monday (12/20).

ALAN SMITH

PS – We are going to make some significant changes to OpenSnow beginning this week. If you’re an All-Access subscriber (thank you!), you’ll see no changes. If you are not an All-Access subscriber, here is an FAQ with more details about the upcoming changes, and we hope that eventually, we’ll earn your support. You’ll begin to see these changes via our website on Monday, December 13 and later this week in the OpenSnow app.