JACKSON, Wyo. – April was slightly warmer and drier than average, but the end of the month was more active with precipitation recorded on six of the last seven days. High-elevation snowpack is close to average heading into early May.
April 2025 Recap
Most of April was relatively quiet, but we did catch up in terms of precipitation during the final week of the month. Overall, temperatures in Jackson ended up slightly warmer than average, and precipitation was slightly below average. Snowfall was also below average.
Temperatures in April ended up 1.0ºF warmer than normal in Jackson (compared to 2010-2024), with an average high of 53.4ºF and an average low of 26.0ºF. The warmest temperature of the month was 70ºF on April 11, and the coldest temperature of the month was 13ºF on April 14.
Jackson received 1.42 inches of precipitation in April, which is slightly below the 2010-2024 average of 1.61 inches. Measurable precipitation was recorded on 11 days, but six of these precipitation days occurred in the final seven days of the month.
The two wettest days of the month (24-hour totals measured at 7 a.m. each morning) were 0.39 inches on April 25 and 0.35 inches on April 28.
We also had our first thunderstorms of the season during the final week of the month. There were a total of four thunderstorm days in the Teton Range, which is more than normal for April.
A strong thunderstorm on April 24 produced pea-sized hail in the town of Jackson and “thundersnow” in the Tetons. At the end of this particular storm, snow levels briefly lowered to near the valley floor.
Wet snow fell on several occasions in the town of Jackson in April but did not accumulate more than a trace, so there was no measurable snowfall for the month. The last time Jackson did not receive any measurable snowfall in April was in 2016. Average April snowfall in Jackson is 6.0 inches.
In the Tetons, April snowfall ranged from 13-23 inches at 8,000 feet and 28-39 inches above 9,000 feet. The Rendezvous Bowl Plot at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort received 34 inches of snowfall in April 2025, which is below its April average of 59 inches.
For the season as a whole, snowfall has been close to average, with 400 to 475 inches in the Tetons above 9,000 feet, while the town of Jackson has received 91.5 inches of snowfall, which is just below its average of 94.8 inches.
Current snow depths in the Tetons as of April 30 are around 100 inches at 9,500 feet and 60 inches at 8,000 feet.
As measured by liquid content, snowpack is currently right around average in the Tetons as of April 30. In other words, we have a near-normal mountain snowpack heading into early May.
Zooming out, snowpack is generally close to average across Western Wyoming but below average across the eastern basins of Wyoming.
Snowpack is melting at a much faster rate south of Wyoming following a warm and dry April, and is well below average in these regions as a result.
May 2025 Outlook
The first few days of May will feature warmer and drier conditions with highs topping out near 70 in Jackson on Saturday.
Heading into early next week, a slow-moving low-pressure system will pass south of our area with showers possible from Sunday to Tuesday. This setup favors lighter precipitation in the Tetons and Jackson Hole, while Central and Eastern Wyoming could potentially see heavy precipitation (valley rain and mountain snow).
Here is a precipitation projection through next Wednesday…
Historically, May is the rainiest month of the year on average in Jackson Hole, as frequent storm systems tend to track through the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies. More often than not, precipitation comes in showery waves with breaks in between, but occasionally we can get a long-duration precipitation event at this time of year (where it rains for most of the day).
The average high temperature in Jackson in May is 60.8ºF, and the average low temperature is 33.4ºF. Average precipitation in Jackson in May is 2.13 inches.
Most of the precipitation that falls in town in May is in the form of rain, but occasionally snow can still fall, especially early in the month. Jackson averages 1.2 inches of snowfall in May. Last year, Jackson received 7.3 inches of snowfall (including 6 inches in one day on May 3), which was much more than usual for this late in the year.
While mountain snowpack melts at a much faster rate in May, snowfall is still common across the higher elevations. The Rendezvous Bowl Plot at 9,580 feet averages 31 inches of snowfall in May, and received an impressive 55 inches last May.
Thunderstorms are also more common in May, with an average of five thunderstorm days, compared to an average of just one thunderstorm day in April (though we had four thunderstorm days in April this year). Peak thunderstorm season in the Tetons occurs later in the year, though, from June through August.
For May 2025, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center is projecting warmer-than-normal temperatures but above-normal precipitation in Jackson Hole.
Alan Smith, Meteorologist
