Powderchasers: 20+ Inches Expected for Oregon Resorts, Sierra and Rockies Next

Originally posted on Powder | Last updated Feb 13, 2024 11:40 AM ET

A strong Atmospheric River enters the PNW Wednesday landing 2 feet plus snow totals for many Oregon Resorts. This will trickle south into the Sierra and northern Rockies by Thursday. Oregon will likely land the highest totals with the Sierra and some spots in Idaho or Wyoming approaching 12-15 inches.

The weather models are confident that a significant storm will impact most of Oregon mid to late this week. We have high confidence of 2 feet or higher storm totals by Friday morning, especially for the higher peaks near Timberline, Mt Hood, and Bachelor. Decent totals will also fall near Mt Ashland (5-10). Lighter snow is possible in the southern Washington Cascades (White Pass, Crystal). Central and northern Washington are out of the loop.

Other deep spots to watch are central Idaho (McCall area mountains) and eventually the Tetons (Several moderate waves Wednesday to Thursday). Montana resorts will continue to score light to moderate snow all week with some highlights noted near Showdown (NE of Bozeman) (6-12). Thursday might be the most active day to ride powder. Big Sky and areas near Bozeman should see weekly totals in the 5-11 inch range by Thursday night.

For the Sierra range, we have high confidence of 12-15 inches for mid-mountain and 5-10 inches at the bases. This will mainly fall from Wednesday evening to Thursday morning. Snow density will be on the medium side (Not blower, but not Sierra Cement either). Snow levels will be near or below lake level.

The extended outlook shows a continued trend for unsettled conditions to continue for the Sierra this weekend with stronger and deeper AR events next week. This will also trend the temps a bit higher in the latter period. Decaying moisture will push east over the central Rockies next week. We will issue updates.

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This article first appeared on Powder and was syndicated with permission.

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