5-day snow totals for the Northern Rockies | Image: maps.weatherbell.com

This forecast was written at 3 a.m. MT on Saturday, November 23

Forecast Summary

A cold front pushes across the area on Saturday, bringing a batch of snow this weekend.
Last week’s bomb cyclone continues to impact the forecast, as it produced yet another atmospheric river early this week.
A quieter pattern begins towards the end of the week.

This Weekend

Snow continues falling over Northern Idaho Saturday morning, partly due to an incoming cold front that reaches Central Idaho later today. The cold front reaches the Tetons on Sunday morning.

A burst of snow hits the mountains several hours before the front arrives, after which some scattered snow showers will continue for several hours before drying up.

This storm will impact Idaho more prominently than Montana/Wyoming because there won’t be much moisture left to produce snow after it hits the Central Idaho mountains.

Estimated Snow Totals Through Sunday:

Tamarack (ID): 3-8″
Schweitzer (ID): 2-4″
Sun Valley (ID): 4-8″
Big Sky (MT): 1-3″
Jackson Hole (WY): 2-5″
Grand Targhee (WY): 3-6″

Atmospheric River

The second atmospheric river this week is set to hit California beginning on Monday. This time, though, unlike last week’s storm, which focused on far Northern California, Oregon, and Washington, the focus of precipitation will be the Central/Southern Sierra.

The models still disagree on how far north this atmospheric river will set up, which could lead to very different outcomes for the Northern Rockies. If the track is further north, that would produce several inches of snow across Central Idaho, SW Montana, and NW Wyoming. If the track is further south, it would be a glancing blow to those same areas and would likely only produce an inch or two at the resorts.

Here is a look at one of the models that has a track further north, essentially displaying the higher end of what is possible early next week: