Waiting for Storms:

The past week has been dry for most of the West and it has felt more like March than December on the slopes with sunny skies and above-average temperatures. Fortunately, the sun is at its weakest point in the season so the snow that fell earlier in the month is hanging around.

New Mexico and Southern Colorado did see a big storm last week, however, with new terrain opening up in recent days. Ski Santa Fe picked up 18 inches during this storm cycle and enjoyed sunny skies and soft snow conditions over the weekend.

Forecast for Mon (Dec 18) to Tue (Dec 19):

A storm spinning off the West Coast will bring rain and snow showers to the Sierra, Cascades, and BC but warm air in place will result in high snow levels for most areas. A storm is also impacting the East early this week with heavy rain and flooding. Rain will change to snow across the Appalachians and the lake effect regions on the backside of this storm.

Forecast for Wed (Dec 20) to Thu (Dec 21):

A storm will continue to spin off the West Coast and will slowly work its way southward with additional rain and snow showers for the Sierra Nevada Range. A little bit of moisture may sneak into the Rockies, but only light snow showers with minimal accumulations are expected. Further north, a storm will make landfall with snow developing across BC and Alaska. 

Forecast for Fri (Dec 22) to Sat (Dec 23):

Two storms will impact the West during this period with more widespread snow possible, though uncertainty remains in the storm tracks.

The first storm will move across the Southwest, then a second storm will impact the Northwest before tracking from NW to SE into the Intermountain West – this second storm has the greatest uncertainty. This might not be a major storm cycle for most areas, but temperatures will trend colder at least.

Outlook for Sun (Dec 24) to Thu (Dec 28):

A storm will linger across the Southern Rockies into Sunday with areas east of the Continental Divide favored for snow. Heading into the holiday week, the latest trends indicate the Western U.S. may start to dry out again with a more favorable storm track for BC and Alaska. The East will see above-average temperatures with limited snow potential.  

Thanks so much for reading! Next update on Wednesday (December 20).

Alan Smith 

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