I know it’s the time of year when everyone is thinking about spring and eager for warm and sunny weather, but it is also time to do my recap of the winter season. In this week’s column, I’ll review Jackson’s weather from December through March, to see how this winter compared to last winter and to the long-term averages.
If you want the short story, Winter 2024-25 was snowier and wetter than normal and overall, temperatures were warmer than normal in town this past winter. The mountains also had above average snowfall again this winter.
Town Snow and Water
December of 2024 started out with above average snowfall in town, yet below average precipitation. The Town of Jackson Climate Station recorded 30 inches of snowfall for the month and 1.23 inches of water in that snow. That is a big disparity, especially when considering that most of that snow fell at relatively warm temperatures. I suspect some of the precipitation, or the water content of that snow, was missed or mis-read. Nevertheless, snowfall in December was well above the long-term historic average of 17 inches. The water content was below the average of 1.52 inches.
January 2025 was the driest month of this past winter, with only 4.2 inches of snow recorded in town and only 0.36 inches of water in that snow. Compared to the historic average of 19 inches of snow in January, along with 1.50 inches of water.
February kicked in with well above normal snowfall and water content in town. February 2025 saw 25.2 inches of snowfall in town, with 2.60 inches of water. Compared with the average for February of 14 inches of snowfall and 1.14 inches of water.
March added another 21.2 inches of snowfall and 2.21 inches of water. Compared to the average in March of 11 inches of snowfall and 1.23 inches of water.
Total snowfall for the four months was 80.6 inches, well above the long-term average winter snowfall of 61 inches in town. The total water content this winter was 6.4 inches, compared to an average winter amount of 5.39 inches.
The previous winter, 2023-24, the Town of Jackson had a total of 96.2 inches of snowfall and 7.11 inches of water. That winter started out with a dry December, a snowier than normal January, followed by a big February and record-breaking March snowfall in town.
Temperatures and Snow Depths
January was the only month this winter that was colder than the long-term averages, it was 6 degrees colder than the average mean temperature in January. December was 5 degrees warmer than average; February was 4 degrees warmer, and March was 2 degrees warmer than average.
What we observed this winter was that each snowstorm was usually followed by a warmup, or some rain in the valley. This prevented that snowfall from accumulating to any great depth over time. This winter the maximum snow depth at the Jackson Climate Station reached 15 inches on February 14th, 2025. Oddly enough, historically the average snow depth on that date is 14.5 inches and the average maximum snow depth in the winter is 15 inches in town.
Our perceptions of how much snow should be on the ground in town during the winter may have become a little skewed because of the depths we have seen in recent winters.
Last winter the maximum snow depth reached 32 inches on March 4th, 2024, which tied the record for that date. The winter before that, 2022-23, the maximum snow depth in town was 34 inches on March 11th, 2023, which broke the record for that date.
And, it’s no surprise that there is little to no snow on the ground at the Jackson Climate Station by mid-April, the long-term average snow depth by April 15th is less than half an inch.
Mountain Snow
Snowfall in the mountains this winter, from December through March, ended up above average and was just a little more than the snowfall total from the previous season.
The Rendezvous Bowl study plot at around the 9,600-foot elevation at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort tallied 365 inches for the four months, December 2024 through March 2025. The previous season, 2023-24 had 359 inches. This season and last season were both above the long-term average at the Rendezvous Bowl site of 311 inches, for that four-month period.
Settled snow depths at the Rendezvous Bowl site on April 1st this year were very similar to last year, on April 1st, 2025, the snowpack measured 114 inches deep. On April 1st, 2024, it was at 116 inches. The average snow depth at Rendezvous Bowl on April 1st is 104 inches.
This now marks three seasons in a row with above average winter snowfall in both the mountains and the valley.
Post by meteorologist Jim Woodmencey.
Content originally appeared in the Jackson Hole News & Guide on April 16th, 2025.