US and Canada Daily Snow
By Alan Smith, Meteorologist Posted 11 months ago December 11, 2023
Relatively Quiet Week Ahead for the Lower 48 & Southern Canada
Summary
The first 10 days of December have been active with storms for the West and the East, including some nice powder days in the Rockies over the past few days. The pattern will trend drier for most areas this week once a storm winds down in the East early Monday. Exceptions include a mid-week storm for New Mexico, along with more frequent storms for Alaska and portions of BC.
Short Term Forecast
Fresh Powder and New Terrain Openings Across the Rockies:
Ski resorts across the Rockies enjoyed their best snow conditions of the early season so far over the past several days as a storm brought significant accumulations from Canada to Colorado. The storm started warm in some areas but ended cold with a transition to perfect low-density powder.
The fresh snow that fell on top of base-building snow that accumulated earlier in the month allowed many ski resorts to open new terrain over the weekend, including Peruvian Gulch at Snowbird on Saturday.
Forecast for Mon (Dec 11) to Tue (Dec 12):
A storm that brought snow to the East on Sunday night will wind down from southwest to northeast during the day on Monday with additional accumulations favoring Northern New England. Light snow will also fall across the Northern and Central Rockies as a weak storm moves through. A strong storm will bring heavy snow to Southeast Alaska.
Forecast for Wed (Dec 13) to Thu (Dec 14):
A cut-off low will spin up over the Southwest with moderate to heavy snow developing across Northern New Mexico, while parts of Southern Colorado should get in on the action as well. A storm in the northwest will bring heavy snow to Alaska and Northwest/West Central BC with light snow for the Interior of BC.
The East will head into a drier pattern aside from a weak disturbance that will bring flurries to Upstate New York and Vermont.
Forecast for Fri (Dec 15) to Sat (Dec 16):
Another storm will bring snow to Alaska and portions of BC while the rest of the West will be dry. Parts of the Northern Great Lakes region may also pick up some snow but confidence is low at this time.
Extended Forecast
Outlook for Sun (Dec 17) to Thu (Dec 21):
Temperatures are expected to be warmer than average across nearly all of the United States and Canada next week.
By later in this period, it's possible we could start to see storms approach the California coast, but it's too early to say whether or not this will translate to any snow for Tahoe through the 21st as temperatures will be warm and high pressure will be holding strong over the Interior West.
Otherwise, you'll have to head up north to find new snow as the storm track will continue to favor Southeast Alaska and Northwest BC.
Thanks so much for reading! Next update on Wednesday (December 13).
Alan Smith
Announcements
Download Offline Trail Maps
Before losing service on the mountain, add ski resort trail maps to your Favorites screen in the OpenSnow app and download them to view offline.
- Go to Favorites > Trail Maps > Add Trail Maps
- Search for the ski resort and select the trail map
- Go back to Favorites > Trail Maps
- Tap the cloud icon in the lower right
- Blue Cloud Icon = Available Offline
You can also go to Settings > Your Favorites > Trail Maps in the OpenSnow app to edit and/or view any trail map that you have already favorited.
Favorites → Trail Maps