Usually by around Halloween skiers start thinking more about winter than they are about fall sports. If you remember last year at this time the Northern Rockies were already blanketed with 2 to 3 feet of snow between October 23 & 26, 2010 and people were backcountry skiing like it was early December. Yesterday I … Continue reading Where is All the Snow? →

It has arrived, the first snow of the season, and it is only Oct. 6th. An unusually cold Low pressure system covering most of the Western U.S. with a huge counter-clockwise circulation around it, brought snow this morning to the valley floor in Jackson Hole. Generally about 2 inches in the valley, with maybe 6 … Continue reading First Snow of the Season!….and La Nina Update →

This time of year the most popular question I get asked is, “What kind of winter do you think we’ll have?” My standard response is, “Snowy!” The real question though on everyone’s mind is, exactly how snowy will it be? After all, more snow equates to a better ski season. So, the real quest is … Continue reading The Outlook for this Winter →

The Lightning Detection system I spoke of in the last MountainWeather Blog is now up and running and working pretty well. “Live” lightning strike data is now available for Jackson Hole and it can be viewed by going to mountainweather.com and clicking on the Lightning Map under the Jackson Hole drop down menu. Or, just … Continue reading New Lightning Map for Jackson Hole →

It was one year ago today, July 21st , 2010 when a series of thunderstorms pounded the Grand Teton with an abundance of lightning, injuring 17 people, and causing the death of one other climber when he was knocked off the mountain. The amazing story of this incident and the ensuing rescue of the victims … Continue reading Lightning Safety →

We were getting a little bit of moisture from the Desert Southwest Monsoon this week, causing some thunderstorms around the area. And it looks like we may get another surge of that monsoon moisture again this coming week. If you happen to listen to my forecast rap in the mornings on the radio (KZ95 95.3 … Continue reading The Summer Monsoon Explained →

Today, Wednesday June 22nd is the first full day of Summer 2011. With this change of season comes a new format for the Jackson Hole Forecast on www.mountainweather.com This is the first major revision of the forecast format in several years, and hopefully it makes for an easier to use and more visual experience. Take … Continue reading Announcing the Launch of New JH Forecast Format! →

There’s an old saying about the seasons in Jackson Hole, “We get nine months of winter and three months of bad skiing”. Which would apply to most ski towns in the Rocky Mountains and the Western U.S. this year. Fact of the matter is, the first snowfall in the Teton Mountains came back on September … Continue reading Nine Months of Winter →

This week I will highlight all the various sources of snowpack, water, and flood reports available via the internet so that you can stay on top of the run-off conditions this Spring. Most of these sources of information can be found on the www.mountainweather.com site, with a little poking around. Information specific the Jackson Hole … Continue reading Snowmelt, Water, and Flood Potential →

Wet snow and mud slides in May are not an unusual occurrence, especially after a big winter’s snowfall that is followed by a very wet spring. Bare ground or a snowpack that is being saturated with water due to melting snow become well lubricated and poised to move downhill. Big landslide and snowslide events have … Continue reading Springtime Avalanches and Landslides →