The Details
An unusually early, (or late?) snow storm is set to target parts of the upper North West, exclusively (only) to high elevation areas, above around 5,000ft, in the northern Rockies mountain range, over the next few days.
The Image below shows snow falling and starting to accumulate at Big Sky Resort, Montana earlier today. It doesn’t look like much but more is expected, especially a little further up that hill. (Courtesy of BigSkyResort.com)
More Detail
States such as Montana, Wyoming and Idaho, where elevation climbs upwards of 5,000ft in the mountainous areas, are likely to see this snowfall, and some has already been reported. A few centimeters are likely at elevations of over 5,000ft and in the highest areas near 12″ could fall in places.
This snowfall accumulation map courtesy of Meteociel.fr shows the accumulation of snow expected in the North West over the next few days, highlighted by the coloring which identifies difference amounts of snow, in the areas mentioned.
A sign of things to come for next Winter?
Since the cold air is isolated to north western parts of the United States, it is not possible to attribute this spell to a prolonged or significant spell of cold weather – so this will have little impact on the overall weather pattern for winter 2019/20. However, anyone who likes snow and sunshine at the same time should get up to the northern Rockies for some glorious weather!