Fresh Powder for the Southern Rockies:

A storm on Wednesday-Thursday produced double-digit snow totals across parts of New Mexico and Southern Colorado. As of Thursday AM, snow totals included 15 inches at Pajarito, 14 inches at Angel Fire, and 12 inches at Ski Santa Fe with the potential for storm totals to approach 20" by Friday AM snow reports are released. Purgatory in Southern Colorado also picked up 12 inches from this storm.

Forecast for Fri (Dec 15) to Sat (Dec 16):

The Western U.S. will dry out while two storms bring snow to Central/Northern BC and Southeast Alaska. A storm will also bring mixed precipitation to the Upper Midwest with moderate to locally heavy snow for parts of Minnesota.

Forecast for Sun (Dec 17) to Mon (Dec 18):

A slow-moving storm associated with a cut-off low off the West Coast will spread moisture into Western North America. However, this storm will not be well-organized and temperatures will also be warm, resulting in rain and snow showers with high snow levels for the Sierra, Cascades, and BC Coast Range.

A powerful coastal storm involving warm air will also impact the East with heavy rain developing across the Mid-Atlantic and New England. A cold front will reach the Mid-Atlantic on Monday, however, with rain changing to snow across the West Virginia and North Carolina mountains. 

Forecast for Tue (Dec 19) to Wed (Dec 20):

Rain and snow showers will continue across the Far West from California and Nevada northward into BC. Moisture will push a bit further inland with areas such as Idaho seeing some light snow showers. Heavier snow is expected further north in Alaska.

A cold front will finish sweeping across the East on Tuesday with a change-over to snow showers across the Northeast in addition to the Mid-Atlantic. Snow showers will favor the western slopes of the Central/Southern Appalachians with greater uncertainty across New England. 

Outlook for Thu (Dec 21) to Mon (Dec 25):

The latest medium-range trends indicate a split flow storm track across the West, with storms favoring the Southwest and also Northern BC/Alaska. The Sierra, Cascades, and Central/Northern Rockies may see "scraps" from storms in this pattern but confidence is waning in terms of significant snowfall for these areas prior to Christmas. 

The pattern does not look favorable for natural snow across the East either as above-average temperatures are expected across nearly all of the U.S. and Canada during these five days. 

Thanks so much for reading! Next update on Monday (December 18).

Alan Smith 

Download Offline Trail Maps

Before losing service on the mountain, add ski resort trail maps to your Favorites screen in the OpenSnow app and download them to view offline.

1. Go to Favorites > Trail Maps > Add Trail Maps
2. Search for the ski resort and select the trail map
3. Go back to Favorites > Trail Maps
4. Tap the cloud icon in the lower right
5. Blue Cloud Icon = Available Offline

You can also go to Settings > Your Favorites > Trail Maps in the OpenSnow app to edit and/or view any trail map that you have already favorited.

Favorites → Trail Maps