Mountain West Discussion

[Kayla]

Interesting. 1/2" here and not looking to do that well tonight here.

 

In my short 3 weeks here I have already noticed that the models perform really poorly here. I'm not sure if it's the lack in radar coverage here (which is a huge bummer to not see what's coming) and or the lack of reporting sites and data that gets inserted into guidance. Either way, it's a tough area to forecast.

[epiceast]

Missoula airport recorded 49.5" late this afternoon, so we should officially be over 50" now(125-130% of normal for the location for the entire winter). Probably have a good shot at 5' and 60" by the end of winter if we get about average snowfall for the rest of it.

[Black Hole]

It was 61F today, probably about 66F tomorrow. All of my snow is gone except for a few nasty piles in spots. 

[crf450ish]

It was 61F today, probably about 66F tomorrow. All of my snow is gone except for a few nasty piles in spots.

 

 

What the heck? This can't be normal for the Salt Lake area...

[luminen]

Denver is looking at 70 for Thursday and 73-74 for Friday. We will likely set a new daily record high on Friday (prev 71 from 1951). 

 

Late winter/spring in Denver is fun. 70s for a few days and then it snows...then back to 60s and then a week later it snows again. Rinse/repeat for a few months.

[Guest happ]

luminen, on 07 Feb 2017 - 7:38 PM, said:

I'd love to move east about 300 miles. Can't do it at the moment but maybe in the future.

 

But yeah there's something magical about the Rockies, whether it's down in Colorado, in BC/AB, or up in the Brooks Range. Although not usually thought of as part of the Rockies, the Brooks Range is essentially the ancestor/precursor. 

 

Here's a few photos I took in the Brooks in 2009.

 

Thanks for sharing photos of a remote pristine mountain range

[Front Ranger]

Unbelievable. DEN has blown away the record warm temp for February with a high of 79 so far. Previous record was 76.

[BLI snowman]

Unbelievable. DEN has blown away the record warm temp for February with a high of 79 so far. Previous record was 76.

 

Likely +PDO related.

[epiceast]

50" winter, only about 10" left on the ground now after the last day and 2 nights where the temperatures were above freezing. Back to normal weather and snow tonight and a high pressure that will either be warm(it was a good run of snowcover) or inverted(fun continues?).

[Front Ranger]

DEN topped out at 80.

 

To give this a little context, the earliest they had hit 80 before was 3/20.

[TT-SEA]

DEN topped out at 80.

 

To give this a little context, the earliest they had hit 80 before was 3/20.

 

Wow!    That is pretty incredible.

 

I was looking at the ECMWF map last night and was thinking it sure looked warm in your area.

[Jesse]

DEN topped out at 80.

 

To give this a little context, the earliest they had hit 80 before was 3/20.

 

Such a cold winter in the west!

 

Any stations with longer histories in the area that have seen February 80s?

[Front Ranger]

Such a cold winter in the west!

 

Any stations with longer histories in the area that have seen February 80s?

 

This winter was running about a degree below normal here until this month.

 

Boulder had hit 79 in February before, and I think they topped out at 75 today. A couple others have hit 79 as well, but I actually can't find any previous 80s in the area, including some stations with histories into the 1800s.

 

DEN is prone to more extremes. Most locations around the metro area seemed to be in the 75-78 range today.

[Scott]

Such a cold winter in the west!

 

Any stations with longer histories in the area that have seen February 80s?

 

It depends on which part of the West.   If you are interested, much of the West has been warmer than normal.   Overall, Colorado has had a warm winter, with the exception of the Denver area and parts of NE Colorado being a little below normal before February.  the Front Range south of Denver has been fairly normal, with Western Colorado being well above normal.

 

Arizona, New Mexico, and most of California have been well above normal temperature wise this winter.  Only far north California and some places along the coast have had temperatures close to normal.

 

The places that have been colder than normal are the northerly states such as Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.  

 

Although there are some anomalies (such as parts of Coastal California), basically if you draw a line between Denver, Salt Lake City, and Eureka California, the part of the West north of that line has been colder than normal for December and January, and the part of the line south of that line has been warmer than normal, with areas near the line being close to normal. Normally mild  Boise, for example, has had a harsh winter.

 

I'm sure I didn't get the lines exact, and there are probably some anomalies, but here are the approximate dividing lines:

 

http://images.summitpost.org/original/993832.jpg

 

As far as the 80 in Denver, there are places along the Front Range the area around Pueblo has seen it hit 80 in February, but as far as I know, not farther north than that.  

[Kayla]

DEN topped out at 80.

 

To give this a little context, the earliest they had hit 80 before was 3/20.

 

Wow, that's pretty incredible!

[Guest happ]

Scott, on 11 Feb 2017 - 07:09 AM, said:

It depends on which part of the West.   If you are interested, much of the West has been warmer than normal.   Overall, Colorado has had a warm winter, with the exception of the Denver area and parts of NE Colorado being a little below normal before February.  the Front Range south of Denver has been fairly normal, with Western Colorado being well above normal.

 

Arizona, New Mexico, and most of California have been well above normal temperature wise this winter.  Only far north California and some places along the coast have had temperatures close to normal.

 

The places that have been colder than normal are the northerly states such as Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.  

 

Although there are some anomalies (such as parts of Coastal California), basically if you draw a line between Denver, Salt Lake City, and Eureka California, the part of the West north of that line has been colder than normal for December and January, and the part of the line south of that line has been warmer than normal, with areas near the line being close to normal. Normally mild  Boise, for example, has had a harsh winter.

 

I'm sure I didn't get the lines exact, and there are probably some anomalies, but here are the approximate dividing lines:

 

 

As far as the 80 in Denver, there are places along the Front Range the area around Pueblo has seen it hit 80 in February, but as far as I know, not farther north than that.  

 

I haven't looked closely at the data but suspect you are correct. It was a chilly January primarily because maximum temps were suppressed by clouds/ rainfall. Coinciding with the Arctic air was the placement of near stationary upper lows off the Pacific NW coast that pulled in subtropical moisture for California.

[Front Ranger]

Most of the West was below normal in Dec/Jan. Warmer as you got further south.

 

 

[Jesse]

Most of the West was below normal in Dec/Jan. Warmer as you got further south.

 

Jan17TDeptWRCC.png

 

Dec16TDeptWRCC.png

These maps really illustrate how much more impressive January was regionally than December. Just an awesome month.

[epiceast]

January map shows a very clear low level inversion pattern.

 

(Ironically there air quality was above average, because a lot of the inversions had mid level forcing & frequent storm refreshing).

[Black Hole]

Its been a warm February with little to speak of weatherwise. Looks like some rain this weekend and the day after I leave (go figure) a big snowstorm next Thursday. Oh well, thats kind of the way it goes. 

[Guest happ]

Black Hole, on 16 Feb 2017 - 1:19 PM, said:

Its been a warm February with little to speak of weatherwise. Looks like some rain this weekend and the day after I leave (go figure) a big snowstorm next Thursday. Oh well, thats kind of the way it goes. 

 

Hasn't Salt Lake City had more snow this winter than previous years?

[Front Ranger]

Its been a warm February with little to speak of weatherwise. Looks like some rain this weekend and the day after I leave (go figure) a big snowstorm next Thursday. Oh well, thats kind of the way it goes.

Been awful February here so far. Super dry and boring.

[Scott]

Been awful February here so far. Super dry and boring.

 

The 80F in Denver was pretty exciting, at least from a records standpoint.  It hadn't ever happened before.

[Black Hole]

Last week of the month will be cool and snowy at times, may continue into early March. Wouldn't surprise me given how many times we have seen this pattern this winter. 

[Front Ranger]

The 80F in Denver was pretty exciting, at least from a records standpoint.  It hadn't ever happened before.

 

I've said it before...record warmth this time of year isn't that exciting to me, simply because we see a ton of 75-80 degree days every year.

 

It's certainly a novelty to experience in February, for sure.

[epiceast]

Tomorrow might be a snow event, snow level at the valley floor even in 1 1/3km WRF GFS. NWS thinks it will be just a rain/snow event.

[Front Ranger]

After a lengthy hiatus, winter has returned to the Front Range. Since the 4th, DEN has hit 73+ three times (ridiculous) and the coldest high was 48. Running +11.9 for the month, and the last couple weeks were probably the most anomalous I've ever seen here.

 

But today featured afternoon temps falling through the 20s with occasional snow showers. Only about a half inch on the ground, maybe another inch tonight, and then another day in the 20s tomorrow. Should stay generally cool through the end of the month, so won't be even close to the warmest February on record.

[Kayla]

The last 3 weeks have been really mild here with very little snow but we finally picked up about 4-6" of snow here last night. We had almost lost all of our snow pack over the last couple of weeks so it's great to see a fresh coating out there this morning.

 

Looks like we'll see light snow showers off and on Sunday-Wednesday this week.

[epiceast]

The last 3 weeks have been really mild here with very little snow but we finally picked up about 4-6" of snow here last night. We had almost lost all of our snow pack over the last couple of weeks so it's great to see a fresh coating out there this morning.

 

Looks like we'll see light snow showers off and on Sunday-Wednesday this week.

Lol. I just checked this thread and good job guys. Bridger Bowl got like 20" in 24 too. 

We literally have an inch or two left here in Missoula. South facing yards have no snow besides what was shoveled near sidewalks, north facing still has 6" or so. Only snowfall since early February was a couple days ago when we maybe got a cm.

[epiceast]

Finally snowing here moderately, but the temperature is up to 32 Might get a wettish inch of snow.

[Black Hole]

Supposedly my house did well earlier this week, but I will have to see what is left when I get home today. Might see some snow over the weekend.

[Front Ranger]

After a solidly below average Dec/Jan, Feb was very warm, +7.8 at DEN. Second warmest February on record, after 1954. However, 1954 was over 2.5 degrees warmer, so it really wasn't close.

[epiceast]

Supposedly my house did well earlier this week, but I will have to see what is left when I get home today. Might see some snow over the weekend.

Nice. I see you're a candidate for Atmosphere Science, did you have to take a sitdown test for your quals about weather? Was there a second process to become a candidate?

[Black Hole]

Nice. I see you're a candidate for Atmosphere Science, did you have to take a sitdown test for your quals about weather? Was there a second process to become a candidate?

 

I started on my Masters program but I "high-passed" a test so they said I could finish it or go straight to the phd program. So I decided to do that. I am hoping to finish up towards the end of next summer and then go get a real job.

[Black Hole]

February was so far above normal that it made the DJF average above normal for the winter in SLC. Too bad considering how cold and snowy the rest of the winter felt (and was). 

At any rate a pretty solid storm looks to hit Sunday night. I am thinking 4-8" will fall at my house, but its still a couple days away. 

[Black Hole]

5.5" this evening. At times it was extremely intense with gusty winds producing near white out conditions. 

[Dan the Weatherman]

5.5" this evening. At times it was extremely intense with gusty winds producing near white out conditions. 

You made the right call, as the total fell within your forecast range of 4-8" that you made the other day!

[Black Hole]

You made the right call, as the total fell within your forecast range of 4-8" that you made the other day!

Just need a little bit more to have my first 100" season!

[epiceast]

Just need a little bit more to have my first 100" season!

Is that at the bottom of the valley or on a bench?

[Black Hole]

Is that at the bottom of the valley or on a bench?

I'm halfway up an east-facing bench. The airport at the valley floor has had significantly less snow than I have at 49". But its usually like that so its not a big surprise.  My location is one of the snowiest for my elevation in the SLC area, but that is why I chose to live there!