A good storm cycle at the end of last week has helped to boost the snowpack in the Tetons. Jackson Hole Ski Area picked up 22″ of snow at the Rendezvous Bowl plot between Wednesday night and Saturday. On the heels of the December 8th storm that dumped up to 16″ of snow at Jackson Hole Ski Area, early season skiing conditions have been outstanding over the past week.
Snow King also picked up 10″ of snow during the late-week storm, which has helped tremendously in building an early season base and opening up more terrain.
Following a very dry November up until Thanksgiving, the snowpack has increased over the past two and a half weeks. Taking a look at the current snowpack percent of average map across the Western U.S., the Tetons and most of Western Wyoming is right around average.
The current snow depth at Jackson Hole Ski Area’s Rendezvous Bowl plot (elevation 9,580 ft) is 51 inches, which is slightly above the average of 48 inches for December 16th. Elsewhere across the Western U.S., the snowpack is well above average across the mountains of California, Utah, and Colorado, while snowpack is well below average across the Pacific Northwest and most of Idaho.
Drying trend with cold temperatures early in the week
While last week was very active, things are turning cold and dry over the first half of this week. On Monday, temperatures are going to be very cold across all elevations. As of Monday morning, temperatures were ranging from -8 in the town of Jackson to -3 at the top of the tram. Highs Monday afternoon will only reach the teens in the valley and the single digits up high, making for a very cold day to be out on the slopes.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, high pressure will build over the area, leading to strengthening inversions. As of Monday morning, this ridge of high pressure is located west of Jackson Hole but will migrate east over the next couple of days.
The high pressure will result in stronger inversions developing, with colder air trapped in the valleys while temperatures warm up across the mid to high elevations under sunny skies. On days like this, it helps to go skiing higher up in the mountains to escape the cold valley air!
For Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, highs will struggle to reach the teens in the valley, while highs on the upper slopes of the ski area will reach the 20’s. Morning lows will fall well below zero in the valley.
Snow returns Thursday-Friday, then drying out over the weekend
Overall it will be a quiet week for Western Wyoming, but we are going to see one storm impact the region on Thursday and Friday. This does not look like a particularly strong storm, but early indications point toward roughly 4-10″ of snow in the Tetons from Thursday afternoon through Friday afternoon with good skiing conditions on Friday. Temperatures will also warm up in the valley during this time as the approaching storm helps to scour out the inversion.
For the weekend, conditions will dry out again on Saturday and Sunday. There will not be any cold fronts arriving at the end of the Thursday-Friday storm, so while we may see inversions develop over the weekend, overall it should be warmer compared to the first half of the week.
Beyond this weekend, the long-range outlook indicates a shift to more active weather during the week of Christmas, though the storm track may end up favoring Utah and Colorado for the heaviest snow potential (more so than Wyoming).
Alan Smith, Meteorologist
