You may not be aware of it, but today, February 5th is National Weatherpersons Day. Celebrate with your favorite meteorologist, buy him or her a beer! This is also the beginning of a steady Northwesterly flow or “Dirty Ridge” event for the northern Rockies. As a Ridge of High pressure parks off the West Coast … Continue reading Snow in a Northwest Flow →

If you lived in Jackson for the last 12 months or so and I were to ask you to name three things you remember about the weather in 2019, the top three answers likely would be: 1) February was really snowy. 2) Summer was too short. 3) October was really cold. Correct on all counts. … Continue reading 2019: Coldest Year on Record for Jackson, Wyoming →

If you are a frequent Weather Channel watcher, you have probably heard the terms they use to describe a variety of winter storms, such as, “Atmospheric Rivers”, “Polar Vortexes” and “Bomb Cyclones”. All of which sound quite ominous! It reminds me of that line in the Wizard of Oz, “Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh … Continue reading Creating a Winter Atmosfear →

Low-pressure systems have been swinging across the Southwestern U.S. this past week or so, but leaving the northern & central Rockies to catch the fringes of those weather systems. That is about to change, for the start of the New Year. Current Weather Pattern This series of 700mb maps (@10,000-ft.) shows the transition of the … Continue reading New Snow for the New Year →

The outlook for fresh powder in the Western United States between Christmas and New Year’s Day is not looking too cheery for many locations. A split jet stream flow in the Pacific will send three separate Low pressure systems on a southerly track across the Southwestern U.S. That will favor the southern Sierra Nevada (Mammoth) … Continue reading Holiday Snow Update →

This Saturday is the Winter Solstice and the official start to the winter season, according the calendar at least. Next week is Christmas and then it’s a whole New Year! To help you plan you your travels, or your ski destination, or to just to get a sense of how white your Christmas is going … Continue reading Holiday Snowfall Forecast →

A West to Northwesterly flow aloft over the Western U.S. will yield additional snowfall through this coming weekend. A large area of Low pressure in the Gulf of Alaska, combining with a smaller Low-pressure center currently further out in the Pacific will rotate Pacific moisture across the Cascades, Sierra Nevada, and the northern & Central … Continue reading Mid-December Snowiness →

Back in early September I did my first outlook for the winter season in this blog. That was just after the Farmer’s Almanacs came out with their predictions. Two of those Almanac forecasts had most of the Mountain West painted under cooler and snowier conditions, overall. Those forecasts don’t change, once they are published in … Continue reading Thanksgiving Winter Outlook Update →

This article first appeared in the Jackson Hole News & Guide on Sept. 11, 2019 I get it all the time, starting in late August, when I am the grocery store, out hiking on the trail, from people passing in the opposite direction while on my mountain bike. I can’t seem to go anywhere this … Continue reading Outlook for Winter 2019-20 →

With the weather starting to change from summer-like to fall-like this past weekend, and more cold storms rolling across the Western U.S. this week, I thought it might be a good time to remind people to be more weather-vigilant when planing excursions into the mountains. Whenever I see that first cold weather system approaching on … Continue reading Summer Snowstorms →