Winter is back across Oregon with moderate snow accumulations over the last week. Check out the 5 days totals from Monday, March 25th through Friday, March 29th, and some verification for the latest rounds of snow on Wednesday and Thursday.

Forecast from Friday, March 29th through Sunday, March 31st:

The storm system over the past couple of days will impact California and send a few snow showers into Oregon on Friday. These snow showers will be light and scattered, primarily impacting central and southern Oregon starting on Friday afternoon. Total snow accumulations on Friday will be a trace - 3 inches.

A narrow area of snow will develop on Friday afternoon and evening in central Oregon that will affect somewhere near Hoodoo and Mt. Bachelor. It is difficult to pinpoint where this snow shower will exactly develop and it could bring snow throughout Friday with snow accumulations near 6 inches if it remains stationary. I think Hoodoo and  Mt. Bachelor will see at least a couple of inches on Friday and a small potential for 4-6 inches. See the snow map below for the narrow area of snow developing on Friday.

This storm system looks to remain semi-stationary over California this weekend and could send a couple more rain and snow showers on Saturday, but again this will mostly affect the southern half of Oregon and many areas will stay dry and partly clear. Sunday will see the same thing with an even lower chance of showers and a higher chance of sunny skies.

Total snow accumulations will be minimal to light or a trace - 3 inches from Friday through Sunday with the narrow area of snow in the central Cascades potentially bringing 6 inches. Many areas will stay dry as well through this time. Below is a look at the National Blend of Model’s (NBM) forecasted snow accumulations from Friday, March 29th through Sunday, March 31st.

Winds will be light on Friday and Saturday, with a few gusts up to 20-30 mph on Sunday afternoon.

Forecast on Monday, April 1st and Tuesday, April 2nd:

The storm system over California will finally move out of the area and bring Oregon clear and dry weather to start next week and the start of April. Mostly clear skies are expected with high temperatures in the 40s on Monday and 50s and maybe 60 degrees on Tuesday.

We will see a return to active weather in the extended forecast starting on Wednesday, April 3rd. The storm track will primarily move in from the northwest, which will bring several rounds of cooler storm systems. The first storm on Wednesday will be weak, but a stronger storm could move in on Thursday, April 4th and Friday, April 5th. The exact timing and storm intensity are uncertain this far out, but snow accumulations will be coming back into the forecast. 

The active weather could continue into the weekend on Saturday, April 6th but there is a lot of uncertainty regarding when and where storms will affect the West Coast next weekend.

Below is a look at the ensemble forecasted 24-hour snow accumulations @ Mt. Hood Meadows. The boxes highlight the storm time frames and snow accumulation from Friday, March 29th through Thursday, April 4th.

Description: The graphic above shows 51 versions of the European ensemble model (top) on the y-axis (vertical) and 7 days from left to right on the x-axis (horizontal). Each colored rectangle shows a chance for snow (inches - see scale on right). The more the colors are aligned vertically, the higher the confidence in the forecast.

Thanks for reading I will have the next forecast on Sunday, March 31st. Forecasts will be back @ 5 am.

Zach Butler

NEW: Snow Ratio Forecast

You can now get a good idea of the upcoming snow quality for the next storm via our new "Snow Ratio" forecast for any location in OpenSnow.

When we talk about snow quality, such as “light and fluffy” or “heavy and wet”, we are talking about the snow-to-liquid ratio. The higher the snow-to-liquid ratio, the lighter the snow quality, and vice-versa.

1. Go to any location screen and tap the "Snow Summary" tab.
2. Scroll down to the 5-day hourly or 10-day forecast section.
3. View the 5-day hourly or daily "Snow Ratio" forecast for the next 10 days.

10:1 will be fun but will feel a little heavy. 15:1 will offer some faceshots and feel pretty light. 20:1 will be incredibly light, almost like skiing through nothing but air.

This new feature is currently available with the latest version of the OpenSnow iOS app installed (App Store > OpenSnow > Update) or on the OpenSnow website (OpenSnow.com). It will be available in the OpenSnow Android app soon.

View → Snow Ratio Forecast