The storm track continues to shift north and warmer temperatures are taking over. The spring melt has begun across the Rockies. From here, the skiing strategy goes two ways: Spring backcountry skiing, including corn snow and couloirs and/or skiing the few resorts that remain open.
The west stays somewhat active over the next five days with a few different fast-moving storm systems. New snow favors the highest terrain. In particular, the Pacific Northwest and interior Rockies stand the best chances of precipitation. In the Northeast, temperatures have warmed to full-on spring levels. Any new precipitation will be mostly rain except for a little snow Friday night into Saturday morning in Maine.
A weak El Niño continues in the equatorial South Pacific. The consensus of data suggests a 65 percent chance of continuation through summer. This means wetter than normal conditions across a large part of the country, and temperatures will run warmer than normal on both coasts, including Alaska on both counts.
Pacific Northwest, Whistler, Banff Weather
Roughly two storm systems are lined up over the next five days. They are fast moving with the jet stream. Most of the precipitation is rain at lower elevations with snow higher up. The first storm is the most significant between Friday night and Sunday morning. It favors the Whistler/Blackcomb area and Coastal Range through the interior to Banff. In fact, Banff could catch a third storm system on Tuesday-Wednesday.
Colorado, Utah Weather
A few different warm storm systems will race through over the next five days. And we'll see the daily engagement of afternoon showers/snow/thunderstorms over the mountains. The first storm system rolls through between Friday and Saturday morning. The second storm system mainly affects Colorado on Sunday-Monday with light snow accumulation at the highest elevations. A third storm system merges with a cold front between Monday afternoon and Wednesday and appears to be the most significant of the three storm systems. Light to moderate snow accumulation at the higher elevations.
