Skier slides down Loon in NH where all eyes are on a coastal storm. (Loon/Twitter)
Snow alert! A huge storm slams the West this week with locally up to five feet of snow. The East could be nice and snowy just in time for the weekend.
Western U.S. & Canada
Even if you’re not a weather enthusiast, go ahead and watch the Sierra Nevada this week. It’ll be *piling* up with locally up to five *feet* of snow by the end of the weekend! March will come in like a lion for most of the West with ongoing heavy snow and wind across the Pacific Northwest and Cascades Thursday morning. It will be heaviest for most areas on Thursday and Friday.
By Saturday and Sunday the snow will get lighter while it moves to Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. It all wraps up Sunday with drier conditions through at least Tuesday. We may see another chance of snow beginning Wednesday the 7th. Prime areas will be California’s Northstar, Utah’s Alta, and British Columbia’s Kimberley Alpine Resort.
Eastern U.S. & Canada
It’s tricky on Friday for the Northeast, but we could have a big snowstorm. Getting to that time period Thursday, a wintry mix of rain and sleet will develop for most of the Great Lakes and Northeast. A coastal low will develop off of New England Friday which will help pull in cold air and change rain to heavier snow.
How much snow? It depends on timing, temperatures, and low pressure location. I can see 4-8” easily but if the storm gets strong enough then 12”+ may hit some areas.
The potential looks best in New York’s Belleayre and New England’s Bromley Mountain and Loon Mountain. It will be cooler and breezy with snow showers Saturday and Sunday. Another similar system to the one mentioned above may hit the Great Lakes Tuesday-Wednesday the 6th-7th so watch that one too!
Lyndon State College senior Philomon Geertson contributed to this article.