(This article first appeared in the Jackson Hole News & Guide, Nov. 23rd, 2016 issue.) About a week or so ago, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center announced that, “La Nina conditions were present and favored to persist through the winter 2016-17”. This caused local skiers and boarders to rejoice with primal screams of joy and dreams … Continue reading La Nina is here. So what does that mean? →

(This article originally appeared in the Jackson Hole News & Guide on Oct. 26, 2016) At the very end of August, in this column, I gave you the early, early winter outlook for 2016-17. That was ridiculously early to be talking about winter. Now that we are deep into October, have some snow on the ground, … Continue reading The Updated Winter Outlook →

The Summer Forecast Was.. First though, let’s see how accurate the long-range predictions were for this summer. The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center had forecasted back in April of 2016, that June-July-August over western Wyoming: a good probability of above normal temperatures, and a higher probability of having above normal precipitation. Just for giggles, … Continue reading Summer in Jackson Hole 2016, in Review →

Meteorologist Jim Woodmencey We are one-year away from the Solar Eclipse that will be visible across the United States on August 21st, 2017. I was watching the weather this past week to see where the best locations — the most cloud-free spots– would be, IF the eclipse had occurred this August. A few days ago, … Continue reading Solar Eclipse Weather Pre-Check →

Meteorologist Jim Woodmencey (Note: the content of this post first appeared in the MountainWeather column in the Jackson Hole News & Guide on July 20, 2016). Every summer I feel obliged to reiterate a few important points about lightning safety. Maybe this will be your first time hearing this message, or maybe an annual reminder … Continue reading Playing it Safe During Thunderstorms →

Meteorologist Jim Woodmencey (Note: Content in this post first appeared in the MountainWeather column in the Jackson Hole News & Guide June 8, 2016) Sometimes, the forecast can be confusing or misleading, especially when it comes to understanding the “probability of precipitation. In this week’s column I will explain what those percentages really mean, by … Continue reading Understanding Your Weather Prognosis →

Meteorologist Jim Woodmencey It seems like weather predictions for the coming winter are beginning earlier and earlier every year. They used to come out in early October, then it was September, now they are appearing in mid-August. The early release of the Old Farmer’s Almanac hit the major media a couple weeks ago. You can … Continue reading The Early Winter Outlook →

Meteorologist Jim Woodmencey (Note: The article in this post was originally published in the Jackson Hole News and Guide on August 19, 2015).The comments and questions are starting to come more often now, about the current El Nino and how it will affect our winter. I blame the bigger media outlets for creating this hype, … Continue reading Hyper-El Nino may be Over-hyped →

Meteorologist Jim Woodmencey An unusually cold Low pressure system for late July moved across the Northern Rockies on Monday, July 27th, 2015 , bringing with it  a dramatic drop in temperatures, and snow to the higher elevations of the Teton Range in western Wyoming, as well as some strong, gusty winds. SNOWSnow was observed at … Continue reading Snow in July in theTetons →