Jackson Hole experienced its coldest week of the winter last week, at least in the valley where inversions were prevalent. At the official weather station in the town of Jackson, there were six consecutive days when the low temperature was colder than 10 below zero and five consecutive days when the high temperature failed to reach 20 degrees above zero.

The coldest day of the week was on Thursday, February 20, when the low temperature fell to 25 below zero, the coldest temperature of the winter, and the high temperature only reached 8 degrees above zero. The low temperature of -25 also tied a daily record low.

Last week also featured our longest stretch of dry weather since December, which was quite a change from the first six to seven weeks of 2020.

A storm system arrived on Sunday night, and increasing winds ahead of this system finally scoured out the inversion when valley temperatures rose to around 40 degrees.

A cold front arrived overnight, so temperatures are colder again on Monday with about 4-5 inches of fresh snow in the Tetons for skiers to enjoy, while valley accumulations ranged from 1-4 inches. Additional snow showers can be expected during the day Monday with another 2-5 inches possible in the Tetons, with additional valley accumulations of an inch or less. A cold and moist northwest flow will be responsible for the Monday afternoon snow showers, with good orographic (terrain-driven) lift in the Tetons.

 

For the rest of the week, a drier pattern will resume but temperatures will be warmer than last week. The coldest day will be on Tuesday when low temperatures start out below zero in the valley and high temperatures struggle to reach the low 20s. However, a steady warming trend will ensue over the second half of the week with temperatures approaching 40 in the valley by Friday or Saturday.

A weak disturbance will arrive during the middle of the week, which could bring up to a couple of inches of snow to the Tetons from Wednesday through perhaps early Thursday, but overall this system will not be a big deal.

After a warmer and drier finish to the week, the next storm system will bring a chance of snow to the area from late Saturday through Sunday. This also does not look like a strong storm but will pack more of a punch than the mid-week disturbance at least, and could offer a nice refresher to the ski areas on Sunday.

Here is a look at model-averaged temperature projections for the Jackson Hole Airport over the next ten days. The warmest temperatures are expected on Friday and Saturday, but with only a slight cooling trend by early next week as the calendar flips to March.

 

Alan is a professional meteorologist who holds a degree from MSU Denver and writes weather forecasts for Buckrail. He has lived in Jackson full-time since 2015. He is currently a Meteorologist and Operations Manager for OpenSnow, which is a weather forecasting service for skiing and outdoor adventures. At OpenSnow, Alan writes forecasts for the Tetons, Pacific Northwest, British Columbia, and North America as a whole.