[Forecast courtesy of Powderchasers]
The past 7 days has seen snowfall totals that we have not seen for many years in the West. The secret on “The Chase” was avoiding too much snow and wind (Closures) and nailing the perfect days of openings.
Related: Satellite Comparison of California’s Snowpack (Dec 28th, 2016 vs Jan 24th, 2017)
My team was successful starting at Squaw Valley initially last week (3 openings on KT 22- 15-20 each day) before heading to Utah prior to the complete shut down last week in California. Snorkels were out in many areas of the 4 corners (AZ, UT, NM, CO). I chased to Park City (54 inches in 7 days) and Snowbird twice in 1 day (AM/PM) and even threw in Solitude when “The Bird” was on lockdown. Powder Mountain scored 80 inch storm totals and is slowly opening terrain. Northern Colorado resorts fared decent with generally 2 feet or more with up to nearly 4 feet at Beaver Creek in the past 7 days. The week ahead will see snow showers continuing in the Wasatch and most of northern Colorado however amounts will be light. High pressure settles in until mid next week.
SHORT TERM:
Snow showers are continuing in most of northern Utah and Colorado under NW flow with light amounts expected through late today or early tomorrow (Light freshening). Some of these showers may put down convective bands of 1-3 inches in a short period of time. A significant break late this week will provide us all a chance to dig out and get our legs rested after endless powder days that may have scored me nearly 25 days of double digits between the Rockies and Sierra in January.
The Ensembles are showing a break down of the ridge beginning mid next week. It’s a hard to nail down details but our confidence is increasing for snowfall to return to the Pacific Northwest (They have been in a bit of a lull since December) as well as the Sierra. Some snowfall will return to the PNW as early as this weekend with heavier amounts mid or late next week.
Snow will increase over the Pacific Northwest and BC mid to late next week with decent accumulations likely. Models also show a strong likelihood of a return of snowfall to the Sierra as early as Wednesday night and Thursday. Beyond the 7 day period poses challenges for who in the Rockies ends up with snowfall. My confidence currently favors northern resorts perhaps Montana, Idaho, Wyoming. Most of that moisture may eventually drop south into Utah and Colorado but that will be addressed in a future post.
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