Mountain West Discussion

[Jesse]

In the mountains 2010/2011 was similar, but from what I've read online it's been 37 years since a similar snowpack was seen.

 

It's on pace to easily be my snowiest winter since moving here.

 

It would be nice if this was a switch to a long spell of troughy winters in the west. I have been just as happy to see California and the Intermountain West do well as I have with my own backyard.

[epiceast]

Hopefully next weeks storm cycle pointed at southeastern BC/northern MT pans out, we're really hurting for snow above the valleys here.

[Guest happ]

Colorado river will definitely benefit from Rocky Mt snowpack. Hope that ridging/ blocking doesn't take hold.

[Black Hole]

Colorado river will definitely benefit from Rocky Mt snowpack. Hope that ridging/ blocking doesn't take hold.

Seems like another trough will be moving in late next week so hopefully we can keep it going.  

[Dan the Weatherman]

Very high barometric pressure readings across the Intermountain West and west coast in general today. On the Hourly Weather Roundups I have seen pressures as high as the 30.70s and 30.80s in some areas of NV, ID, and eastern WA.

[Black Hole]

Very high barometric pressure readings across the Intermountain West and west coast in general today. On the Hourly Weather Roundups I have seen pressures as high as the 30.70s and 30.80s in some areas of NV, ID, and eastern WA.

Supposedly 30.98" in Ontario Oregon today.

[epiceast]

NAM trending further south At this rate it'll be snowing in Utah and Ashland again on Tuesday.

[Kayla]

Looks like my first Montana snow storm since I moved is on my doorstep here in Bozeman. I'll definitely be in the sweet spot as the front stalls over me this week. Expecting 12-18" beginning tonight through Thursday. Should be a fun few days!

[epiceast]

Getting a little worried about how all this virga will organize into a deformation band. Hopefully the GFS/NAM are wrong and the NWS made the right call by going with more organized Euro/GEM

[Kayla]

Getting a little worried about how all this virga will organize into a deformation band. Hopefully the GFS/NAM are wrong and the NWS made the right call by going with more organized Euro/GEM

 

3km 00z NAM looks pretty good. Still shows about 10-16" for here. Deformation bands are always a little slow to form but it will later tonight/morning.

 

Kinda funny that my last snow storm in Portland was due to a similar setup that is currently forming over Bozeman. Once again I seem to be in the sweet spot as frontogenesis sets up right over me.

[crf450ish]

Wow!  Much more pleasant in this forum! 

[Black Hole]

Cold and dirty air trapped under the inversion here. NWS talking about freezing rain being possible on Friday to Saturday. I think snow is favored but it will be close. 

Models also showing another snow storm early next week now with the cold air hitting Utah instead of going east. 

[epiceast]

Got about 3.5" here today. Airport only 1", it's about 3 or 4 miles northwest of "my location". I think this is the rare case of local shadowing for the airport with the NNW winds. Usually I've been getting half an inch to an inch less than the airport this winter in big storms except one exception where there was a strong north/south gradient. Both locations are at the valley floor. 

 

I should say there are still a couple hours of life left in the deformation band.

[Kayla]

Fun first snow storm since moving! Near whiteout conditions, dropping temps through the daylight hours (31º at sunrise, dropped to 15º by 1pm) is something I'm not used to coming from Portland! Looks like about 6-10" fell here but was pretty tough to get accurate measurements due to the strong winds most of the day. South of town where we are building there was nearly 12" when I was out there earlier this afternoon.

 

Currently 10º and still snowing lightly so continuing to add to the totals. Looks like a little break during the day tomorrow with another 2-4" expected tomorrow night and Thursday.

[Front Ranger]

Fun first snow storm since moving! Near whiteout conditions, dropping temps through the daylight hours (31º at sunrise, dropped to 15º by 1pm) is something I'm not used to coming from Portland! Looks like about 6-10" fell here but was pretty tough to get accurate measurements due to the strong winds most of the day. South of town where we are building there was nearly 12" when I was out there earlier this afternoon.

 

Currently 10º and still snowing lightly so continuing to add to the totals. Looks like a little break during the day tomorrow with another 2-4" expected tomorrow night and Thursday.

 

Welcome to winter in the Rockies! The crazy weather swings within a few hours are one of my favorite aspects of this climate.

[Front Ranger]

Sleety, icy mess here the past couples days. Just lots of freezing drizzle, mainly. I can't remember a winter with as much non-snow freezing precip as this winter has had. All light, though.

[Kayla]

Struggled to go much above zero here today. Made it all the way up to 3º briefly before quickly dropping below zero again by 3:30pm.

 

Quickly learning that life is a little more "challenging" in these types of temps. Definitely quite the adjustment. Looking forward to our 20º plus warmup tomorrow!

[Black Hole]

A little bit of rain tonight and then a sharp cold front pushes through Monday evening. We will see a little snow here from that but it lifts back north as a warm front the next day. 

Next chance of snow around the 11th. 

[crf450ish]

Struggled to go much above zero here today. Made it all the way up to 3º briefly before quickly dropping below zero again by 3:30pm.

 

Quickly learning that life is a little more "challenging" in these types of temps. Definitely quite the adjustment. Looking forward to our 20º plus warmup tomorrow!

Yep. Sure makes you appreciate the small things. What kind of challenges have you dealt with since you've been there?

[Kayla]

Yep. Sure makes you appreciate the small things. What kind of challenges have you dealt with since you've been there?

 

Oh just mainly the layering you have to do even if it's only for a few minutes! They do pretty well with the roads here but sometimes parking can be problematic around town. Luckily both of our cars are AWD and do great in the snow. Of course found out real quick to not leave the car outside in below zero temps for too long either!

 

Takes a little longer to get mail/packages and generally things get done a little slower here but that's also one of the big reason why we made the move! Slower pace and just stunning beauty every direction you look. Love it here.

[crf450ish]

Oh just mainly the layering you have to do even if it's only for a few minutes! They do pretty well with the roads here but sometimes parking can be problematic around town. Luckily both of our cars are AWD and do great in the snow. Of course found out real quick to not leave the car outside in below zero temps for too long either!

 

Takes a little longer to get mail/packages and generally things get done a little slower here but that's also one of the big reason why we made the move! Slower pace and just stunning beauty every direction you look. Love it here.

 

Hmm, I haven't had any issues leaving my vehicles outside in below zero temps. Only got down to 5 below at my house here in northeastern wa one night, amongst many many nights in a row of lows in the low single digits.

 

Yes, the slower pace of life is nice. The rural slower pace isn't for everyone, but for those who can learn to love it, it's rewarding not to have to deal with the rat race of the west coast, more specifically the puget sound area. We moved away from the south puget sound in June of 2015 and haven't regretted it once.

[Kayla]

Hmm, I haven't had any issues leaving my vehicles outside in below zero temps. Only got down to 5 below at my house here in northeastern wa one night, amongst many many nights in a row of lows in the low single digits.

 

Yes, the slower pace of life is nice. The rural slower pace isn't for everyone, but for those who can learn to love it, it's rewarding not to have to deal with the rat race of the west coast, more specifically the puget sound area. We moved away from the south puget sound in June of 2015 and haven't regretted it once.

 

It dropped down to -25º here last night and our newer'ish car wouldn't start/turnover. Guess that's why they make engine block heaters!

[Front Ranger]

It dropped down to -25º here last night and our newer'ish car wouldn't start/turnover. Guess that's why they make engine block heaters!

 

Huh, I've had temps in the -10 to -15 range here many times and never had issues with my car starting. Parked outside.

[Kayla]

Huh, I've had temps in the -10 to -15 range here many times and never had issues with my car starting. Parked outside.

 

Hmmm, that is interesting. How long was it in that range? It was between -10 to -25 for about 15-16 hours here which was roughly the time we left it out there.

[TT-SEA]

Hmmm, that is interesting. How long was it in that range? It was between -10 to -25 for about 15-16 hours here which was roughly the time we left it out there.

 

 

Anything below -20 causes issues with starting cars... I can speak from personal experience.  

[Kayla]

Anything below -20 causes issues with starting cars... I can speak from personal experience.  

 

Good to know! Hearing from the others it does sound like temps around -20 is the fine line between whether your car starts or not. Live and learn!

[crf450ish]

It dropped down to -25º here last night and our newer'ish car wouldn't start/turnover. Guess that's why they make engine block heaters!

Your battery froze. Yes lead acid battery froze. It's finished. Might work for a while longer but you'll need a new one. And get one of these https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000I8XD9E/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_D5wLyb2RZB9HA after you get a new battery. If and when you do get a block heater installed, you can plug both the block heater and battery blanket into the same cord and have it hang out from under your hood somewhere. You may also add one of these https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000I8TQD6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_n9wLybC39KPHJ to the bottom of your oil pan.

 

That's how things are done in the Dakotas and in the interior of Alaska.

[Black Hole]

We had a hail or graupel shower at about 730 this morning that woke me up. Today will probably be mostly quiet with a high near 50. 

[Guest happ]

We had a hail or graupel shower at about 730 this morning that woke me up. Today will probably be mostly quiet with a high near 50. 

 

Any snow still on the ground?

[Kayla]

Your battery froze. Yes lead acid battery froze. It's finished. Might work for a while longer but you'll need a new one. And get one of these https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000I8XD9E/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_D5wLyb2RZB9HA after you get a new battery. If and when you do get a block heater installed, you can plug both the block heater and battery blanket into the same cord and have it hang out from under your hood somewhere. You may also add one of these https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000I8TQD6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_n9wLybC39KPHJ to the bottom of your oil pan.

 

That's how things are done in the Dakotas and in the interior of Alaska.

 

This is all really great info, thank you!

 

When we first got here I was wondering why a lot of cars had little cords hanging out of their hoods. Didn't take too long for me to figure out why!

[Front Ranger]

Good to know! Hearing from the others it does sound like temps around -20 is the fine line between whether your car starts or not. Live and learn!

 

Yeah, I guess that must be it. It's gotten down around close to -20 here a couple times, but I've never seen it colder than that.

[crf450ish]

This is all really great info, thank you!

 

When we first got here I was wondering why a lot of cars had little cords hanging out of their hoods. Didn't take too long for me to figure out why!

You're welcome.   Taking care of your vehicle, when living in a climate like yours, is serious business. I've heard of trucks never being shut off during serious cold snaps in the Dakotas and Minnesota as well as Fairbanks. Diesel engines can be a nightmare to start if the proper preparations for cold weather aren't taken. 

[Black Hole]

Kayla, how did you do with the storm the last couple of days?

I've seen some unreal videos from Glacier NP where it looks like 3-4 feet of snow fell.

[Black Hole]

It looks quite wet this week in northern Utah. ECMWF ensemble mean of 1.5-2.5" of liquid across the area for the week, with perhaps a few inches of snow on Saturday. 

Overall it looks pretty warm for at least 10 days...some hint of a change possible beyond that point. 

[epiceast]

Kayla, how did you do with the storm the last couple of days?

 

I've seen some unreal videos from Glacier NP where it looks like 3-4 feet of snow fell.

It's a Kalispell special. Got really warm in Missoula(40's) and other parts of SW Montana.

[Kayla]

Kayla, how did you do with the storm the last couple of days?

 

I've seen some unreal videos from Glacier NP where it looks like 3-4 feet of snow fell.

 

That system was mostly focused on the Northwestern parts of the state and missed Bozeman for the most part. That part of the state did indeed get slammed. Some areas saw more than 4ft of snow over 3 days. It was an incredible record breaking snowstorm for them that's for sure.

 

With that said, I've picked up 6" so far this afternoon and tonight with moderate snow continuing to fall and 8º currently. Tonight has definitely been an overachiever type of storm as all of the models showed no more than 3" for me today.

[luminen]

Hmm, I haven't had any issues leaving my vehicles outside in below zero temps. Only got down to 5 below at my house here in northeastern wa one night, amongst many many nights in a row of lows in the low single digits.

 

Yes, the slower pace of life is nice. The rural slower pace isn't for everyone, but for those who can learn to love it, it's rewarding not to have to deal with the rat race of the west coast, more specifically the puget sound area. We moved away from the south puget sound in June of 2015 and haven't regretted it once.

 

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.

[Kayla]

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.

 

Gorgeous photos!

[epiceast]

That system was mostly focused on the Northwestern parts of the state and missed Bozeman for the most part. That part of the state did indeed get slammed. Some areas saw more than 4ft of snow over 3 days. It was an incredible record breaking snowstorm for them that's for sure.

 

With that said, I've picked up 6" so far this afternoon and tonight with moderate snow continuing to fall and 8º currently. Tonight has definitely been an overachiever type of storm as all of the models showed no more than 3" for me today.

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

[Scott]

Yesterday we set the record for the warmest February low in history and the warmest low in any of the winter months.    The low yesterday was 36F.  There have been no other lows this warm between November 11 and March 30.  The old record for the warmest low on February 7 was 25F in 2015.