[Forecast courtesy of Powderchasers]
A short wave trough moved through Southwestern Canada and absolutely demolished Alberta and eastern British Columbia. NE wind helped to bury Calgary (38 cm at the airport and ~60 cm in the Western suburbs), as well as the resorts near Banff, especially Nakiska Ski Area which recorded 50+ cm. Lake Louise, Sunshine Village, and Norquay did well too, all winding up with double digits (in inches) of snow. This was the snowiest day in 3 decades for Calgary. Scroll down for some pictures of the heavy snow and carnage in and around Calgary.
The mountains around Glacier National Park are currently getting hammered with snow, with up to a foot and a half possible at the highest elevations.
Just on the heels of this storm, another shortwave trough will swing through the West. This time, the storm will be farther south, and this time the bullseye will be on the mountains of Southern Montana and Western Wyoming. While not quite as strong of a storm, upper elevations at Big Sky could get deep. We think 4-8 inches by Friday morning at Big Sky at upper elevations and 2-4 inches for Jackson Hole and Grand Targhee. Winds start out SW which is good for Big Sky but switch to NW after the passage of the front, which could lead to some impressive totals at Bridger Bowl as well, and perhaps enhanced totals at Grand Targhee. NW flow is ok for Big Sky. Both Bridger and Targhee benefit from NW flow. Red Lodge should get in on the action too. Below is the 6 hour forecast for Thursday evening in Montana.
We are loving this pattern and all the snow. We are tracking yet another storm this weekend, one that could bring heavy snow to Wyoming again, SW Colorado and maybe Utah as well. The Uintas are a lock for heavy high elevation snow between now and Monday. The models start to diverge after the weekend but confidence is high in even MORE SNOW and another storm. We’ll keep posting updates as we get in a good confidence range for each event. We snow the early snow can wreak havoc all season long for the backcountry community but we love snow too much to not be excited about this.
–Powderchaser Luke
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Calgary’s Snowiest Day In 30 Years [Photo Tour]:
