Moist southwest flow from California to Wyoming

A strong storm setting up off of the West Coast is transporting rich Pacific moisture into California early this week, resulting in heavy snow (measured in feet) for Tahoe and Mammoth. Great news as lift-served ski season is quickly approaching!

A strong southwest flow (winds blowing from the southwest) will also transport moisture into Utah and Wyoming this week, resulting in periods of heavy snow across the Wasatch and the Tetons during the Monday to Thursday timeframe. 

For more local details on this storm, check out the following Daily Snows:

• Tahoe Daily Snow
• Utah Daily Snow
• Jackson Hole Daily Snow

Forecast for Mon 11/7 – Tue 11/8:

Heavy snow will fall across Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada Range on Monday and Tuesday with deep totals expected, while the Tetons and Southwest Montana also get in on the action. The Wasatch in Northern Utah will be right on the edge of the storm track initially this week.

Further north, snow will also fall across Oregon, Washington, and Southern BC on Monday and cold air in place will result in low snow levels (rain/snow line) for this time of year.

Forecast for Wed 11/9 – Thu 11/10:

Snow will linger across California and Southern Oregon into Wednesday, but these areas will be on the tail end of the snow event as the storm starts to move inland across the Rockies. During this period, the focus of heavy snow will shift into Utah and Wyoming while Western Colorado will see a good round of snow as well.

Forecast for Fri 11/11 – Sat 11/12:

The West will head into a drier pattern during this period, while the previous storm will reach the Upper Midwest with rain changing to snow across the Northern Great Lakes region, primarily favoring ski areas in Northern Minnesota and Ontario with mostly rain further south in Wisconsin and Michigan.

In the East, a late-season tropical storm is expected to make landfall in the Southeast, and moisture from this storm will be transported northward as a frontal system approaches, resulting in heavy rain throughout the Appalachians. However, an approaching cold front will signal a significant pattern change for the East in the days to follow. 

Outlook for Sun 11/13 – Thu 11/17:

A cold pattern will take hold across nearly the entire Lower 48 along with Southern Canada during this period, while warmer-than-average temperatures surge northward into Alaska. 

As far as snow potential goes, this will be a fairly dry pattern for most areas with only occasional weak and moisture-starved disturbances reaching the West Coast. Across the East, the Great Lakes and Northern New England will be the most favored areas for snow, while colder temperatures will also support good snowmaking conditions. 

Thanks so much for reading! Next update on Wednesday (11/9).

ALAN SMITH