The 2020/2021 snow season was already off to a promising start, with September snow flurries that produced enough coverage to ride on in Colorado, and more widespread snowfall across the West in early October. Well, while such early-season dumps may have been exciting, the true winter storms have arrived, along with dropping temperatures sure to build a deep, early-season base.
As the map above shows, there’ll be a train of storms moving through the western U.S., potentially lasting through the end of the month. I’m no meteorologist but I do know that the blue represents a cold wet storm system, sure to bring the white stuff at the right latitudes/elevations. If the forecast holds, one storm after another for the month of November sounds like a great way to kick off the snow season, and is typical of La Niña patterns in the West.
It’s happy pow days over at Wolf Creek. Photo: Wolf Creek Ski Area/Preston Bass
Different mountains across the U.S. are reporting promising snowfall in the past 24 to 72 hours: Mammoth Mountain’s website shows 14 inches at the Main Lodge, all within the past 72 hours. Aspen-Snowmass received 12 inches within the past 48, and Wolf Creek in southwest Colorado just got 28 inches, bringing its season total to a whopping 67 inches. Wolf Creek and Keystone (which got five inches in the recent storm) are the only two resorts open at the moment in Colorado. In California, Mammoth has plans to open November 14 and Squaw Valley on November 25. Time to get waxin’!
