Let’s start with what we know. Whistler, in western British Columbia, not far from Vancouver, received 66 inches of snow during Thanksgiving week, and their mid-mountain base is now 68 inches of settled snow.

Whistler is likely the resort that has the best powder skiing in North America right now, and light snow will continue to accumulate early this week.

The deepest accumulations between about November 27 - December 2 should fall in in the northwestern US, at Tahoe, in Utah, and throughout Colorado. One to two feet of additional snow is likely for these areas through the middle of the week.

If you’re seeking powder this week, Whistler, the resorts of northern Utah, and Wolf Creek in Colorado will likely offer the combination of the most open terrain and the most powder.

The temperature outlook through the week shows that the west will be in full-on winter mode while a gradual warmer occurs in the east.

Unfortunately for the northeast, this warmup likely means that the storms moving in during the first few days of December could produce some liquid precipitation. As usual the rain/snow line will depend on the exact track of the storm, and we can’t have much confidence in that 1 week in advance. Stay tuned!

The longer-range models hint that most of the western US and Canada will see drier weather between about December 2-5, and then another storm will likely bring powder back into the forecast between about December 5-10.

In the east, following the warmer storms during the first few days of December, there should be a trend back toward cooler weather during the second week of the month.

Thanks for reading!

JOEL GRATZ

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