Summary
The storm moves out later this morning, with minor accumulations as the system moves east. There were some huge 3-day totals with Silverton 36, Aspen Highlands 28, Telluride 31, Kirkwood 21, Heavenly 20, Crested Butte 20.
The next wave is a clipper, that will zip by Washington this morning and take a beeline through Idaho, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado. It is a small system, so a couple-three inches refresh is possible.
Stoke
Pattern Discussion
The next pattern storm should hit the coast early on the 2nd. The models don’t have a good solution for this storm yet. The last time through this system was strong with the PNW, Tahoe, Utah and Colorado all with double digit totals. That was the second cycle–super strong. This cycle (3) is more like cycle 1–all mountains received snow; however, the totals were more on the mild side, generally single digits with a couple spots receiving 10+.
Forecast
The clipper system moves into Utah tonight with 2-3 inches expected. That system reaches the Colorado area Friday, and the same amounts are expected. A nice refresh to fill in the bumps. Cold temps for Utah resorts with Friday highs likely in the single digits, maybe 10, with wind chills in the -15 range. Colorado; not as cold with high temps Friday in the lower 20’s with modest winds.
Spring Break Forecast for March
Spring break is right around the corner, so I thought I would break down, week by week, what will happen and more importantly, where the snow will be for the month of March.
March 1-5
March kicks off with a bang. In cycles 1 and 2 Utah had snow, so March 1-3 for Alta, Snowbird and the other cottonwood resorts.
Colorado had light snow, cycle 1 on the same days with heavy snow on day 27 (Mar 4). I expect the same in cycle 3, with the caveat, in cycle 2 it dumped, so a repeat like that would be a welcome surprise.
March 6-12
There is a split, during this week, in terms of pattern storms from the last 2 cycles. The one constant is Colorado. Colorado resorts received snow on days 33-35, which translates to March 9-11. Expect a good system for Vail, Steamboat, Aspen, Breckenridge and Crested Butte.
If the strength of the Pattern is more like cycle 2, Then Utah resorts Park City, Alta and Snowbird will have good snow. We will have to monitor the models to confirm those chances. Jackson Hole, Big Sky, both had good storms those days (Mar 10-12) in cycle 2, with JH having triple digit totals for 3 straight days,
March 13-20
We are split again during these dates. The only consensus is Colorado on days 42-43 (Mar 19-20). This was a small storm in both cycles with Colorado resorts picking up between 6-12, on average, in both cycles.
If the strength of the Pattern mirrors cycle 1, then Alta, Snowbird and Park City all received snow on day 41, which is March 18t
