Mountain West Discussion

[Kayla]

Bozeman MSU is reporting a 32" snow base as of yesterday afternoon which is a new record for any month of the year. It's amazing to see so much snow in town. Just driving through snow tunnels everywhere you go. All this snow will of course only maximize this Arctic airmass to its fullest potential.

 

I picked up about 2" with the front last night and have continued to see very light pixie dust falling throughout the day. Had a high 1ºF today and back down to -2ºF currently. Will be interesting to see just how low we go tonight. -20 to -30F throughout the area look likely with highs likely to stay around -10F tomorrow. Just brutal weather, especially for March!!

[Front Ranger]

Moderate to heavy snow here for the past few hours. 3" so far.

 

Down to 8 degrees...I don't think I've ever seen it like this in March.

[Black Hole]

Moderate to heavy snow here for the past few hours. 3" so far.

 

Down to 8 degrees...I don't think I've ever seen it like this in March.

How did you do in the end?

[Black Hole]

Another 2.3" of snow overnight, with perhaps a bit more in the next hour. Storm total of 5.3", although it never actually got that deep because everything that fell yesterday morning melted before round 2 started.

Anyway, considering most forecasters said the snow level would be above me it was a rare over-performing storm. 

[Kayla]

-20F here this morning. Looks like the Airport dropped down to -26F. 

 

Finally a sunny blue bird day here. Too bad we can't get outside to enjoy it with highs staying below zero once again. 

[Front Ranger]

DEN at 5 degrees at noon on March 3. Unreal.

 

EDIT: Down to 2 at 1 pm.

[Front Ranger]

How did you do in the end?

 

The heavy banding faded after that, so only picked up another inch or so overnight. 

 

Light snow has spread over the metro area again over the past couple hours, though, and I have another 1/3" - 1/2" from that.

[epiceast]

Bozeman MSU is reporting a 32" snow base as of yesterday afternoon which is a new record for any month of the year. It's amazing to see so much snow in town. Just driving through snow tunnels everywhere you go. All this snow will of course only maximize this Arctic airmass to its fullest potential.

 

I picked up about 2" with the front last night and have continued to see very light pixie dust falling throughout the day. Had a high 1ºF today and back down to -2ºF currently. Will be interesting to see just how low we go tonight. -20 to -30F throughout the area look likely with highs likely to stay around -10F tomorrow. Just brutal weather, especially for March!!

3' mark will probably be crossed given more warm fronts that will be coming in.

[Kayla]

3' mark will probably be crossed given more warm fronts that will be coming in.

 

Yeah we'll see. Not a whole lot of agreement with the models at this point in that Wed-Sun period. It looks like we could rise slightly above freezing on Thursday which would be a first since February 16th.

 

Until then, it's frigid. Already down to -20F here and -21F at the Airport.

[Front Ranger]

Greeley, CO has hit -6, the lowest March temperature on record at that station (records back to 1967).

[Kayla]

Dropped down to -22F and possibly as low as -38F at the Airport. Obviously these are all new daily and all-time record cold March lows. Historic cold airmass no doubt.

 

Bozeman MSU still has 32" snow base which is just incredible for March 4th. 

[Black Hole]

Between Wed-Sat it looks pretty wet here. ECMWF ens mean of about 1" of liquid precipitation. Some of that will fall as snow Fri-Sat, perhaps 2-4". 

[Front Ranger]

Dropped down to -22F and possibly as low as -38F at the Airport. Obviously these are all new daily and all-time record cold March lows. Historic cold airmass no doubt.

 

Bozeman MSU still has 32" snow base which is just incredible for March 4th. 

 

Just unbelievable.

 

I mentioned it in the other thread as well, but yesterday was the coldest March day in Denver history with a high of just 6 at the airport. It was also the coldest in Boulder history, as the high of 9 broke the previous record low max of 11 from 1932.

 

All in all, this was probably one of the top 4 cold March air masses for this region in the past 100 years, along with 1989, 1948, and 1932.

[Kayla]

Just unbelievable.

 

I mentioned it in the other thread as well, but yesterday was the coldest March day in Denver history with a high of just 6 at the airport. It was also the coldest in Boulder history, as the high of 9 broke the previous record low max of 11 from 1932.

 

All in all, this was probably one of the top 4 cold March air masses for this region in the past 100 years, along with 1989, 1948, and 1932.

Crazy.

 

I think it’s fair to say that 2019 will go down as the coldest airmass of all-time for this late in the season for Montana.

[Kayla]

Dropped down to -22F and possibly as low as -38F at the Airport. Obviously these are all new daily and all-time record cold March lows. Historic cold airmass no doubt.

 

Bozeman MSU still has 32" snow base which is just incredible for March 4th. 

 

They actually made it down to -39F. Coldest temp since February 1996. Insane.

[Kayla]

-33F at the airport this morning which of course is another new record low. Both BZN and Bozeman MSU broke records for coldest lows and highs yesterday. I only dropped down to -14F here this morning slightly above the valley floor.

 

Looks like the snow returns overnight tonight with 1-3" by tomorrow late morning. More snow chances on Thursday and especially on Friday into Saturday where we could see some heavy snow with an additional 4-6".

[Black Hole]

Still looking at a good soaking today, perhaps .5-1" of rain through Thursday. 

Some uncertainty with the track of the low on Friday, but I think my house still ends up in the 2-5" range, but probably less in the city. 

[Front Ranger]

After a very cold February, DEN is running -21.4 for March so far.

 

Looks like we'll be much milder the rest of the week, but still below normal.

[Kayla]

BZN is running a -43.1 departure for March through yesterday.

 

This after the 2nd coldest February on record. Just insane. 

[Kayla]

This airmass shattered all sorts of March record lows all over Montana.

 

http://i68.tinypic.com/2920l7q.png

[Kayla]

Picked up 2" here last night. Still quite cold here currently sitting at 11F but tomorrow looks to possibly warm above freezing for the first time since February 16th.

 

Still looking like another 4-6" of snow Thursday night into Saturday.

[Front Ranger]

Crazy sleet/ice storm going on here tonight. Forecast wasn't for much precip but already have at least half an inch of icy accumulation.

[Scott]

This airmass shattered all sorts of March record lows all over Montana.

 

http://i68.tinypic.com/2920l7q.png

 

-46 would be the state record as well since the old state record was -45 at Fort Logan on 3/15/1906.

[epiceast]

Finally getting some snowbowl(pardon the pun) making snow here. 27F, but 700mb temps are above -10c before the cold front, and it is 30F at 7000'.

[Kayla]

Bozeman MSU still has a 32" of snow on the ground as of March 6th with another 4-6" expected tomorrow. This snow base is just completely unheard of for March over any records over the past ~140 years. 

 

Today's chance for above freezing weather is quickly fleeting since it is currently only 3F here. With another cold front approaching tonight no above freezing weather is in sight. 

[Scott]

Just unbelievable.

 

I mentioned it in the other thread as well, but yesterday was the coldest March day in Denver history with a high of just 6 at the airport. It was also the coldest in Boulder history, as the high of 9 broke the previous record low max of 11 from 1932.

 

All in all, this was probably one of the top 4 cold March air masses for this region in the past 100 years, along with 1989, 1948, and 1932.

 

At the airport it was indeed the coldest March high on record.

 

If you are interested, pre-airport, there was a colder March day in Denver.  On 3/12/1880 the high temperature was 4 and the low -8.

 

Anyway, of interest, the cold air was shallow and never made it to the mountains or most of the Western Slope.  Over here in Grand Junction, we're 2.4 degrees above normal for the month so far.  

 

 

[Black Hole]

A wet day in Salt Lake. .38" at my house so far with some light snow accumulation too. Looks like another batch moving in now. Still looking for a few inches tomorrow but it won't be a big storm. 

[Black Hole]

I have a winter weather advisory posted for 2-6". Hope it pans out. 

[Front Ranger]

At the airport it was indeed the coldest March high on record.

 

If you are interested, pre-airport, there was a colder March day in Denver.  On 3/12/1880 the high temperature was 4 and the low -8.

 

Anyway, of interest, the cold air was shallow and never made it to the mountains or most of the Western Slope.  Over here in Grand Junction, we're 2.4 degrees above normal for the month so far.  

 

Says something when you have to go back to the 1880s to find something that beats it.

[Kayla]

Absolutely dumping out there this morning. Already about 4" on the ground  since the snow began around 6am this morning. Forecast called for 4-6" but the way it's already coming down and looks to continue through tomorrow morning it's looking like we could be in the 8-12" range it would seem.

 

What a season.

[Kayla]

Also of note: Today will mark the 20th consecutive day below freezing in Bozeman.

 

I believe this is the longest such stretch since 1936.

[Black Hole]

My 3.2" yesterday pushed me over the 60" mark. I figured average where I live is probably about 80", so may not quite make it there. 

[epiceast]

Also of note: Today will mark the 20th consecutive day below freezing in Bozeman.

 

I believe this is the longest such stretch since 1936.

December and January don't deliver? I thought Bozeman was fairly protected from chinooks! I feel like even Missoula can string 20 days below freezing consecutively several times since 1936.

[Kayla]

December and January don't deliver? I thought Bozeman was fairly protected from chinooks! I feel like even Missoula can string 20 days below freezing consecutively several times since 1936.

 

Well, we're up to 21 days now and after looking into it a little more it looks like it's actually the longest streak going back only to 1969.

 

But yes, Bozeman usually gets a decent amount of Chinooks, especially in December. We definitely do not get the inversions like the areas west of the divide see. We're generally pretty upper air dependent out here.

[Front Ranger]

The first week of March featured massive amounts of snowfall in the mountains of CO, with some areas seeing over 80" of snow.

 

Lots of avalanches as well: https://www.weather.gov/bou/MarchSnow2019

[Kayla]

The airport dropped down to -13F this morning and 2F IMBY. So even with a pretty run of the mill airmass we are still producing some really cold temps with all this snow cover.

 

Pretty incredible satellite image today of the widespread and deep snowpack for mid March over Montana.

 

http://i63.tinypic.com/14mxow9.jpg

[Kayla]

The first week of March featured massive amounts of snowfall in the mountains of CO, with some areas seeing over 80" of snow.

 

Lots of avalanches as well: https://www.weather.gov/bou/MarchSnow2019

 

Crazy. Great to see all of the West with an above average snowpack for once.

 

How are things looking for your area with that massive low next week? It looks like it's going to mature just south and east of Colorado on Wednesday.

[Front Ranger]

Crazy. Great to see all of the West with an above average snowpack for once.

 

How are things looking for your area with that massive low next week? It looks like it's going to mature just south and east of Colorado on Wednesday.

Under a WSW. It looks like the best dynamics will be east of here, with blizzard conditions likely on the plains, but good chance I still see a nice dump of snow.

[Kayla]

Bozeman Airport is running a -33 departure through the first 10 days of the month with an average temp of -0.2F.

 

For reference the record coldest March on record is 18F. It looks like the Airport dropped down to -16F this morning so the beat goes on.

 

http://i64.tinypic.com/3005klg.png

[TT-SEA]

Bozeman Airport is running a -33 departure for the month through the first 10 days of the month with an average temp of -0.2F.

 

For reference the record coldest March is 18F. It looks like the Airport dropped down to -17F this morning so the beat goes on.

 

 

Wow... and I thought the 33 here this morning was annoyingly cold given a front is moving in.