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Here Comes Winter: Big Storm Aims For Rockies

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[leadin]A whopper of a storm is rolling through the West. The ski town buzz is finally getting some legs.[/leadin]

Snow at Sierra at Tahoe today
Snow on the ground at Sierra At Tahoe Resort today

A storm that already dropped nearly an inch of rain on California is rolling slowly inland.



tahoe

CALIFORNIA / TAHOE

First stop Lake Tahoe. While initial forecasts had called for up to two feet, the warm nature of the storm kept precipitation totals lower.

Still, though, for California, every drop counts right now.

The updated National Weather Service report from this afternoon is calling for 3-6″ more of the white stuff at about 7,000 feet. Regardless, it looks like many areas around Lake Tahoe will see about a foot by Wednesday.


 

MONTANA & IDAHO

UPDATE: This photo was taken at Big Sky on the morning of Tuesday, Nov 3
UPDATE: This photo was taken at Big Sky on the morning of Tuesday, Nov 3!

Next stop on the Snow Train is Big Sky, Montana. Big Sky is set for a fairly epic early season dump, with up to two feet forecasted to fall. That’s pretty optimistic thinking, but even the National Weather Service is calling for up to 13 inches in the mountains near Big Sky. Good news for the mountain as it aims for a Thanksgiving opening.

big sky

Areas of Idaho are also about to get walloped. The modest Magic Mountain is predicted to get a nice 12″ dump, and other areas of the state are likely to get a nice white coat, too.

storm warning

According to the latest National Weather Service warning for the area:

SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOW WILL FALL TONIGHT AND TUESDAY IN THE
HIGHLANDS SOUTH OF THE SNAKE RIVER BASIN AND A RAIN/SNOW MIX
IS LIKELY LATE TONIGHT AND TUESDAY MORNING IN THE TWIN
FALLS/JEROME AREA. AT 530 PM MST SNOW WAS ALREADY ACCUMULATING
AT ROGERSON IN TWIN FALLS COUNTY AT AN ELEVATION OF 4900 FEET.
THE SNOW LEVEL WILL LOWER TO 4200 FEET BY MORNING AND ELEVATIONS
ABOVE THAT LEVEL CAN EXPECT 3 TO 7 INCHES OF SNOW TONIGHT THROUGH
NOON TUESDAY.

COLORADO

As usual, Wolf Creek in Colorado will likely be a big winner for the state, with OpenSnow calling for 10″ at the resort, which will already be open and should give skiers some nice soft turns.

Copper Mountain posted this photo on its Facebook page this morning.
Copper Mountain photo from this morning

Further north, the resorts along I-70 (Copper Mountain, Breckenridge, Arapaho Basin, etc.) and Aspen should see 3-5″, not a lot for this time of year, but a good addition to the white peaks as snowmaking is well under way at most, if not all, these resorts.

Get stoked, skiers and riders, winter is REALLY just around the corner! Get out there and do your snow dance.

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