JACKSON, Wyo. – A massive storm produced 30 inches of snow in 24 hours at Jackson Hole’s Mountain Resort’s upper mountain plot, which was the deepest in-season snow report on record. The town of Jackson received 17 inches of snow in 24 hours, which was tied for the second most on record, though there are many years with missing data.
Historic Storm Produces Massive Snowfall, Shuts Down Ski Resorts
A huge storm impacted the Tetons on March 1-2 and this one will go down as one of the more significant winter storms in recent years, right up there with the February 2017 power outage storm and the December 2008 Christmas storm among others.
The storm involved a strong jet stream and a significant plume of Pacific moisture that set up in a southwest-to-northeast trajectory from the Sierra Nevada Range to the Tetons. This storm also dumped up to 100 inches at ski resorts in Tahoe and we were right in its path as well.
Here was the water vapor satellite image on Friday, March 1.
This storm brought extremely heavy snowfall rates and strong winds to the Tetons with gusts of up to 69 mph at the top of the tram.
Winds aloft were out of the southwest, which is more favorable for the JH Valley than west or northwest winds (less of a shadowing effect from the Tetons), and the dynamics of this storm were also very strong which helped to overcome local terrain influences on snowfall patterns.
So while the mountains still received the deepest snow totals, the valleys were dumped on as well.
Moderate to heavy snow fell throughout the day on Friday (March 1), with snow struggling to accumulate on the valley floor initially due to above-freezing temperatures. Once temperatures dropped on Friday evening, snowfall rates became intense overnight.
By Saturday morning, Jackson Hole’s Rendezvous Bowl Plot had received an incredible 30 inches of snow in 24 hours (based on 5 a.m. reports) and the town of Jackson had picked up 16-17 inches of snow.
The combination of heavy snowfall in a short period of time along with strong winds wreaked havoc on ski resort operations for Saturday (March 2).
Snow plows were unable to keep up with the heavy snowfall rates on Ski Hill Road on Friday night between Driggs and Grand Targhee, and the road remained closed on Saturday as a result, preventing employees and visitors from making it up to Targhee. The resort did not open as a result.
At Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, the exceptional snowfall and significant wind loading were challenging from an operational standpoint as significant avalanche control was needed to safely open the resort. The resort ended up not opening at all except for the beginner Teewinot Chair at the very bottom.
Teton Pass remained closed until early evening on Saturday as well. Snow King was one of only a few options for Saturday skiers and snow conditions were outstanding, though even the gondola at Snow King had to close in the afternoon due to wind.
Snowfall Numbers in Perspective
The 30 inches of snow recorded in 24 hours at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort’s Rendezvous Bowl Plot tied the all-time record for this location previously set on November 14, 1988.
However, the previous record occurred before the ski resort opened for the season, so the 30-inch report on March 2 was the deepest on record during ski season.
Records at this location date back to 1974-75 and reports include the 24-hour period ending at 5 a.m. each morning.
Just last year, the Rendezvous Bowl Plot set a 48-hour record on January 26-28, 2023 with 41 inches of snow. The 48-hour snow total for this storm was “only” 36 inches, so last year’s record was not matched for this time frame.
The town of Jackson weather station near the visitor center received 17 inches of snow in 24 hours (as of Saturday morning) while the East Jackson Cocorahs station (WY-TT-40) received 16 inches.
In East Jackson, the two-day snow total was 20.2 inches, while there is missing data from March 3 at the official town weather station.
The 17 inches recorded at the official town station was tied for the second most on record in 24 hours, and the most since January 2012 when 17 inches was also recorded in 24 hours. The all-time 24-hour record is 19 inches in December 1931.
While impressive, town records should be taken with a grain of salt. There are many years with missing data at the town location, so it’s possible there could have been bigger storms at some point in the past that were not recorded.
Grand Targhee recorded 22 inches in 24 hours with this storm, though there are some questions about whether or not this was accurate since mountain operations employees couldn’t make it up to the resort on Saturday morning to verify.
Regardless, this is not a record at Targhee as 30 inches in 24 hours have been recorded there in the past (it last happened in March of 2018).
Season Snowfall and Snowpack Update
This storm is one in a series of powerful storms to impact the Tetons over the past five weeks, contributing to a remarkable turn-around following a slow start to the winter. February was much snowier than average and March is off to an exceptionally snowy start as well.
After the big storm on March 1-2, snow continued to fall on a daily basis and was capped off by a big storm on March 5-6 that produced 13-17 inches at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and 7 inches in the town of Jackson.
Season-to-date snowfall is now above average in the Tetons and in the valleys. East Jackson is now up to 107 inches season-to-date after having less than 12 inches season-to-date on New Year’s Day.
In terms of snowpack as measured by snow water equivalent, we are now 103% of average in the Upper Snake River Basin after being at record low levels just two months ago in early January.
Upcoming Weather Pattern
We have seen quite the wintry blast during the first 6 days of March with 68 inches of snow at the Rendezvous Bowl Plot and 30 inches in the town of Jackson so far this month. Temperatures have also been below average as a cold airmass took hold in the wake of the March 1-2 storm.
Believe it or not, we are about to see a multi-day break in the weather pattern. Something that hasn’t happened in a while!
Lingering snow showers and flurries on Wednesday will give way to mostly sunny skies from Thursday through Saturday along with warmer temperatures as high pressure builds over the area.
Highs will range from the mid 30s to low 40s in the valley each day while overnight lows will dip close to zero. So not an especially significant warm-up by March standards.
We will see an increase in cloud cover on Sunday, then a series of weaker storms are expected early next week, from approximately Monday to Wednesday (March 11-13), with heavier snow to our west and north across the Cascades and British Columbia.
Looking further out, a stronger ridge of high pressure is expected to build over the Western U.S. late next week and into the weekend of March 16-17. This would result in a period of dry and sunny weather along with warmer temperatures and more spring-like conditions.
Alan Smith, Meteorologist
