After a warm and dry start to the season for most of October and early November, the weather pattern has changed, and this new, colder and stormier pattern should be with us for many weeks.

The start of this new weather pattern arrived in Colorado late last week when a cold storm dropped temperatures by 30 degrees and also dropped 12-13 inches of snow at the summit of Steamboat.

Thanks to the cold air following last week’s storm, snowmaking has now begun in full force at many of Colorado’s high-elevation resorts.

Looking across the US and Canada, the recent change in the weather pattern means that there is now natural snow on the ground from coast-to-coast. This map looks encouraging…

But, the amount of snow on the ground in the western US is actually well below average. The numbers show the percent of average snowpack as of November 20th.

On the plus side, western Canada (British Columbia and Alberta) has a snowpack that is right around average for November 20th, so coverage and conditions are in good shape. Lake Louise and Sunshine Village are open, and Whistler will open for Thanksgiving.

Coming up this week, the 5-day snow forecast show solid amounts from coast-to-coast. Many locations in the western US and Canada will receive 6-12 inches this week, with the potential for 18+ inches in the northwest, southwest Colorado, and perhaps a few higher elevations of New England.

Unfortunately, after snowy and cold weather early this week in New England, storms during and just after Thanksgiving day will be warmer, so there will be a mix of rain (at lower elevations) and snow at the highest elevations.

See where the most snow will fall using our Powder Finder, where you can zoom in on the most snow over the next 2, 3, 4, or 5 days:

United States: http://opensnow.com/powder?filter=c-US

Canada: http://opensnow.com/powder?filter=c-CA

Good news for the western US and Canada – the snow will keep on coming! The forecast from November 25-30 shows that additional storms will continue to track over western Canada and most of the western US.

The snowfall in western Canada will be rather continuous, while the heaviest snow in the western US may fall between Nov 27-29.

If the snowfall keeps up, the western US may be able to erase its snowfall deficit by mid December, and the snow depth in western Canada may trend well above normal.

Your snow dances are working – keep them up!

JOEL GRATZ