Healthy Snow Totals For The West

Our forecast on Monday (3/14) talked about healthy snow totals across the Northwest and down into the Rockies and that's exactly what happened.

The map below has the deepest snow reports from Monday through Friday (3/14-3/18), with Mt. Baker in Washington (37"), Silver Mountain in Idaho (25"), and Winter Park in Colorado (18") coming away with the top reports.

For Alberta and British Columbia, totals ranged from 12 inches at Kicking Horse, to 14 inches at Banff Sunshine, to 19 inches at Whitewater. Here was the scene at Kicking Horse on Wednesday, courtesy of our British Columbia Forecaster, Alan Smith.

Forecast for Fri 3/18 – Sat 3/19:

Our main focus will remain locked onto the Pacific Northwest and further down into the West Coast for light to moderate snowfall through the weekend. Expect anywhere from 4-10 inches in the Cascades of Washington and Oregon on Saturday, along with 2-8 inches for the Sierra of California.

Looking elsewhere, it will be mainly quiet in the West and East, with a slight chance for light snow in parts of the Midwest, though mixed precip and rain will likely fall for most locations. Enjoy the spring skiing conditions!

Forecast for Sun 3/20 – Mon 3/21:

The attention of the weather world in the United States will now turn to Colorado as a strong storm sweeps across the Four Corners region and brings healthy precipitation and DEEP snow totals from Sunday night through Tuesday.

There's still some uncertainty but areas along and east of the divide could receive 10-20 inches, while most other mountain areas across the state receive 5-10 inches. Stay tuned to the Colorado Daily Snow for the latest updates.

Forecast for Tue 3/22 – Wed 3/23:

Relatively quiet weather will then settle in from coast-to-coast as a large ridge of high pressure builds in across the West. There could be a slight chance for light snow across the Midwest from the strong storm that impacted Colorado but once again, mixed precipitation will be the likely outcome for most.

Outlook for Thur 3/24 – Mon 3/28:

The outlook from Thursday, March 24 through at least the weekend of March 26/27 will be "high and dry" conditions for most of the Western US, with unsettled spring weather for the Northeast.

The one region to watch for storms to likely return over the weekend of March 26/27 will be Western Canada and possibly down into the Northwest and across the Northern Rockies as slightly cooler temps and storminess sweeps in from the Pacific. Northern New England could also see light snow but mixed precipitation will be the likely outcome for most locations.

Looking even further ahead, the longer-range models are signaling a return to storminess for a good portion of the Western US and Canada as we head into the final days of March and possibly into early April. As always, keep it locked to our entire team of forecasters on OpenSnow as they provide the latest updates each morning.

Thanks for reading! Next update on Monday (3/21).

SAM COLLENTINE