JACKSON, Wyo. – April was slightly warmer than average in Teton County, but was colder than March, while precipitation and snowfall were above average. High pressure will dominate the pattern through at least the first half of May, leading to drier and warmer conditions.
Recent Weather Pattern
The last week of April was damp and chilly across Western Wyoming, with below-average temperatures and frequent shots of rain and snow.
However, a major pattern shift has occurred during the first week of May, featuring dry and mostly sunny conditions along with large diurnal temperature swings (cold mornings and warm afternoons in the valleys).
Over the past week, highs in the valley on many days have been well into the 60s with lows well into the 20s. Daytime temperatures have been a little cooler on Tuesday and Wednesday, however, in the wake of a cold front that moved through.
Most of Teton County has not received any measurable precipitation so far in May.
Here is the 7-day weather summary for the town of Jackson:
For perspective, the average high and low temperatures in Jackson on May 6 are 57º and 31º.
April 2026 Review
Following a record warm March that jumpstarted the snowmelt season in the Tetons, a return to more typical early spring weather occured during April with mild and sunny periods interspersed with cool, wet, and snowy periods.
The month started out with one of the more impressive storm cycles of the season for the Tetons with areas above 9,000 feet receiving two feet of snow from April 1 to 3.
Warm and dry conditions prevailed from April 4 to 11, but then the pattern turned active again from April 12-18 with seven days in a row of rain or snow. Grand Targhee picked up another two feet of snow during their final week of the season, and the Jackson Hole Valley and Teton Valley were both dusted with snow on multiple occasions.
A shorter duration but more intense warm-up occured from April 19-21, bringing the warmest temperatures of the spring so far to the region with a high of 73ºF recorded in Jackson on April 21.
A stretch of cool and wet/snowy weather then took hold from April 22-30, and when including the start of May, we experienced 10 days in a row of below average temperatures in the town of Jackson.
Believe it or not, this was the longest streak of below average temperatures in Jackson since a 14-day streak from January 18-31 of 2025, well over a year ago! This speaks more to how warm the past year has been.
During the final stretch of chilly weather from April 22-30, the higher elevations of the Tetons picked up another 17-29 inches of snowfall, and the town of Jackson received accumulating snowfall on four of these days.
For the month as a whole, temperatures ended up 1.3ºF warmer than average in Jackson, thanks to stretches of well above average warmth early to mid month.
However, the overall average temperature in Jackson in April was colder than the average temperature in March! When examining long-term temperature records from the past 100 years, this is the first time on record that March was colder than April, though there are some years with missing data.
Total precipitation in Jackson during April 2026 was 2.12 inches, which is above the 2010-2025 average of 1.60 inches. According to high resolution PRISM data, April precipitation was above average for Teton County and Northwest Wyoming as a whole, and below average across most of Central and Eastern Wyoming.
April continued a trend of alternating wet and dry months since October. Precipitation in Teton County was above average in October, December, February, and March, and below average in November, January, and March.
For the water year as a whole (since October 1st), precipitation is currently above average in Jackson and slightly above average for Teton County as a whole, despite the lackluster snow season.
The town of Jackson received an impressive 10.2 inches of snowfall in April, though it should be noted that this accounts for peak accumulation on any given day. During every April snow event in the town of Jackson, the snow melted away quickly by mid to late morning as is typical at this time of year.
This was the snowiest April in the town of Jackson since 2022, which ironically enough, was also a poor winter season for snowfall followed by an above average April for snowfall.
In the Tetons, April snowfall was also above average. The Rendezvous Bowl Plot at 9,580 feet at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort received 70 inches of snowfall in April, which is above its long-term April average of 58 inches.
Grand Targhee received 65 inches of snowfall, which is also above its long-term April average of 58 inches.
Note that these April snowfall totals include snow that accumulated after the ski resorts closed for the season.
This was the second snowiest month of the season at both the Rendezvous Bowl Plot and at Grand Targhee, behind only December, even though a good bit of this snow fell after the resorts were closed.
As of May 6, snow depth between 9,000 and 10,000 feet is 75-80% of average for this time of year. At these higher elevations, snow depth for this date is the lowest since 2022 and the second lowest in the past 10 years.
At 8,000 feet, snow depth is only 55-70% of average. This includes Jackson Hole Mountain Resort’s mid-mountain plot, which has its lowest snow depth for May 6th since 2007.
Below 8,000 feet, snow depth is less than 50% of average and many low to mid elevation locations have already been melted out for a long time now. Multiple low elevation locations with 50+ years of data experienced their earliest melt-out on record back in March.
Upcoming Weather Pattern
High pressure will continue to dominate the weather pattern for at least another week, with generally warm and dry conditions expected through mid-month.
Cooler temperatures on Wednesday will give way to a notable warming trend on Thursday and Friday with highs reaching the upper 60s to low 70s.
However, a couple of minor disturbances will track across the Northern Rockies, resulting in scattered cloud cover and a chance of isolated light showers (and perhaps a thunderstorm) each day through Saturday. Significant rainfall is not expected in this pattern, however.
From Sunday through the middle of next week, high pressure will strengthen over the Interior West and a major warm-up is expected as a result.
In fact, we could be looking at record-challenging warmth during the first half of next week, with highs projected to reach 80ºF or higher on Monday and Tuesday.
This would be very unusual for this early in the year. From 2010 to 2025, there were only 3 years in which the high temperature reached the 80s in Jackson during the month of May, and the last time it happened at the JKNW4 weather station in Jackson was in late May of 2020.
Taking it back further and looking at longer-term data from the COOP weather station in Jackson, if we were to hit 80ºF on Monday, it would be the earliest 80ºF in town since 2001 (25 years ago).
In terms of rainfall, our only decent chance in the next 7-10 days will be from Thursday to Saturday of this week, and even then, only light and spotty rainfall is expected at best. Comparatively higher rainfall chances will exist north and east of our area.
May 2026 Outlook
Historically, May is the rainiest month of the year on average in the Jackson Hole Valley, 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 long-duration steady precipitation events at this time of year as well.
In the past 16 years, we have seen temperatures as high as 84ºF (in 2020) to as low as 13ºF (in 2021) in the month of May.
The average high temperature in Jackson in May is 61.1ºF, and the average low temperature is 33.5ºF.
Average precipitation in Jackson in May is 2.16 inches, the highest of any month of the year. However, this is a “middle of the pack” month for precipitation in the Teton Range, where cool season orographic influence leads to a notable climatological peak in high elevation precipitation between November and March.
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 1.1 inches of snowfall in May, with measurable snowfall occuring in town during May about once every two years on average.
While mountain snowpack melts at a much faster rate in May due to warm temperatures and strong solar radiation, fresh snowfall is still common across the higher elevations. The Rendezvous Bowl Plot at 9,580 feet averages 31 inches of snowfall in May.
May snowfall records at the Rendezvous Bowl Plot date back to 2008, and the highest May snowfall total on record was 58 inches in 2011. On the flip side, only 2 inches of snow fell at this location in May of 2023.
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. Peak thunderstorm season in the Tetons occurs later in the year, though, from June through August.
For May of 2026, we are favored to experience a warmer than average and drier than average month overall with minimal rainfall expected through at least the first half of the month. In other words, we may continue our alternating pattern of wet and dry months.
However, longer range models are hinting that the weather pattern could potentially turn wetter and more active during the second half of May, so that will be something to keep an eye on.
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, a transition to a strong El Nino phase is currently taking place in the tropical Pacific Ocean, most notably in the eastern portions of the Pacific off the coast of South America.
For what it’s worth, in the past 8 years in which a strong and/or easterly based El Nino developed during the summer months, Teton County experienced above average warm season precipitation (May through September) in all 8 years.
So while May is off to a dry start and there are never any guarantees with long range forecasting, the odds favor above-average rainfall across the Jackson Hole area and the state of Wyoming as a whole this summer based on the rapidly emerging El Nino conditions in the Pacific.
Alan Smith, Meteorologist
