#limited-snowfall

#limited-snowfall

In the mountain village of Capracotta, snowdrifts reached over five feet, burying streets and forcing residents to dig tunnels through the snow.

"We're always glad to welcome winter back, and this latest round of snow has ensured there are still great turns to be had as our spring season continues. Late season powder days are a bonus, and with the spring events and deals we have planned, it's not too late to get up here for some great skiing and riding!" - Mike Pierce, Marketing Director, Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe

The best way to describe a Jerry is 'an individual who exhibits a true lack of understanding for their sport, or for life in general.' Jerry's are typically the ones you see on the mountain who are booming down the runs, heading to hit the next person they see.

"As we wrap up the season, I want to thank our loyal guests who showed up smiling day in and day out to support their local hill. I also want to thank our dedicated staff whose immense efforts and pride in their work kept Eldora running all season long. We hope everyone comes to celebrate the season with us this weekend." - Andrew Gast, Eldora's president and general manager.

The ski area had several events scheduled to celebrate the end of the season, but poor conditions have unfortunately forced a change of plans.

From late Saturday night through Sunday, guidance is converging on timing and warmer snow levels but diverging on intensity and ridge-top wind magnitude, with the most consistent signal for light snowfall in the northern and central ranges and limited coverage farther south. Most mountains should stay in the low single digits for accumulation during this first push, with favored terrain near the Continental Divide able to approach around 4 inches by Sunday evening.

To get back to average snowpack, we essentially need to have the most snow that we've ever had for the last 30 years between now and mid-April. It would be extremely difficult for Colorado to get back to a normal/average snowpack. As an example, when looking at the Independence Pass SNOTEL site in central Colorado outside of Aspen, we typically have 13 inches of snow-water-equivalent at the end of February. This year, we only have 6.7 inches of SWE.

Confidence is highest through Saturday because the individual models agree well on the timing of the Thursday storm and the following break. Southern California's mountains pick up a quick shot of snow on Thursday with strong winds, then dry out into the weekend. Beyond the weekend, the signal stays active, but model spread grows fast on storm timing, snow levels, and wind impacts, so expect meaningful swings from run to run.

The midweek stretch looks like the most reliable window for fresh turns, with the steadiest snow lining up Wednesday night into Thursday and lighter add-ons into Friday. Snow levels run a little high early, then step down late week, so snow quality should improve as the storm cycle matures. Some areas could see the next wave begin as early as Sun night (02/15), but confidence drops quickly with lead time and placement.

Sun night (02/15) through Tue night (02/17) is the core punch, and many Sierra mountains can stack 20″-50″ in that window as snow levels crash. Expect a lighter start Sunday night, then snowfall rates ramp up hard Monday night into Tuesday with widespread coverage across Tahoe, the central Sierra, and down into Mammoth. Snow levels begin around 5,000 to 5,500 feet early, then fall into the 1,500 to 2,500-foot range by Tuesday and Tuesday night, which helps keep even lower terrain in play for all-snow.

A busy January 5-9 stretch brings frequent light-to-moderate refreshers across the Northern Rockies, with the deepest totals focused on Idaho and the Tetons while snow quality trends better and better as the week turns colder. Snow levels start relatively higher in parts of Idaho early in the window, then steadily crash through midweek, flipping more of the precipitation to snow and boosting snow-to-liquid ratios into the 14-20:1 range for a noticeably drier, fluffier feel late Wednesday into Thursday;

WeatherAs forecasters anxiously watch models for better agreement, one thing is clear: a major winter storm-named Winter Storm Fern by The Weather Channel-is forecast to impact a vast portion of the United States this weekend, bringing a dangerous combination of heavy snow, ice, and extreme cold to much of the country. Winter Storm Fern is expected to impact more than 230 million people across roughly two-thirds of the U.S., stretching across approximately 33 states.

This image, acquired with the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on NASA's Terra satellite, provides a wide view of meager western snow cover on January 15. On that day, measurements derived from satellite observations showed that snow blanketed 142,700 square miles (369,700 square kilometers) of the west. That's the lowest coverage for that date in the MODIS record dating back to 2001 and less than one-third of the median. Coverage had increased slightly by January 26.