Winter Storm Warnings Issued for CA, UT, ID, WA, and MT: Will You Be Where the Snow Is?

It’s going to be hard not to be.  Things are finally about to turn back on for the Northwest, with nearly everyone forecasted to receive a fresh blanket of snow moving into the weekend.  Check out the details below for the Winter Storm Warnings currently in effect for California, Utah, Idaho, Washington, and Montana.

For Montana and Idaho, who have been about the only ones steadily receiving snow, this is going to flip the green light for game on, and will certainly help to cover up some of the exposed rock still lurking in a sharky snow pack in Utah.  For California, we have to hope this trend is going to stick around, as our last significant storm came around December 7th. 

Here’s what NOAA has to say for snowfall totals and storm details:

California:

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RENO HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM
WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 10 PM THIS
EVENING TO 4 AM PST FRIDAY.

* TIMING: MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINS AND HIGH ELEVATION SNOW WILL
  DEVELOP IN THE NORTHERN SIERRA THIS AFTERNOON, CHANGING OVER TO
  SNOW EARLY THURSDAY MORNING.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS: NEAR TWO FEET ABOVE 8000 FEET...ONE FOOT OR
  MORE ABOVE 7000 FEET...AND AROUND 6 INCHES AT LAKE TAHOE LEVEL.
  SNOW FORECASTS BELOW 7000 FEET ARE LOWER CONFIDENCE DUE TO
  UNCERTAINTIES WITH WHEN SNOW LEVELS DROP THURSDAY MORNING.

* SNOW LEVELS: 8000-9000 FEET TODAY, DROPPING TO 7000 FEET AROUND
  MIDNIGHT TONIGHT, AND TO LAKE TAHOE LEVEL AROUND DAYBREAK
  THURSDAY MORNING.

* WINDS: SOUTHWEST WINDS 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 35 MPH. GUSTS
  ON THE SIERRA RIDGES TO 70 MPH TONIGHT.

* IMPACTS: TRAVEL OVER THE SIERRA AND AROUND LAKE TAHOE IS LIKELY
  TO BE IMPACTED BY PERIODS OF HEAVY SNOW LATE TONIGHT AND ALL DAY
  THURSDAY. EXPECT DELAYS...AND CONSIDER PLANNING ALTERNATE ROUTES
  OR ADJUST TRAVEL TIMES TO AVOID THE HEAVY SNOW. I-80 OVER DONNER
  PASS AND HIGHWAY 50 OVER ECHO PASS WILL BE IMPACTED.

Montana:

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BILLINGS HAS ISSUED A WINTER
STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 2 AM
THURSDAY TO MIDNIGHT MST THURSDAY NIGHT.

* TIMING...RAIN AND SNOW WILL DEVELOP LATE THIS MORNING AND CHANGE
  TO ALL SNOW TONIGHT. SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THURSDAY
  EVENING...AND WILL BE HEAVY AT TIMES.

* SNOW ACCUMULATION...6 TO 8 INCHES OF SNOW ARE EXPECTED...WITH A
  POTENTIAL FOR LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS. THE NORTHEAST BIG HORN
  MOUNTAINS WILL RECEIVE 10 TO 18 INCHES OF SNOW.

* IMPACTS...SNOW WILL BE HEAVY...WHICH WILL REDUCE VISIBILITY
  BELOW A HALF MILE AT TIMES. TRAVEL WILL BECOME DANGEROUS AS ROAD
  CONDITIONS DETERIORATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT WITH ROADS
  BECOMING SNOW PACKED AND SLICK.

Utah:

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SALT LAKE CITY HAS ISSUED A
WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW AND STRONG WINDS...WHICH IS
IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 AM MST FRIDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO
LONGER IN EFFECT.

* AFFECTED AREA...THE WASATCH AND WESTERN UINTA MOUNTAINS AS
  WELL AS THE WASATCH PLATEAU.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS...STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL OF 10 TO 20 INCHES IS
  FORECAST FOR THE WASATCH MOUNTAINS. AMOUNTS OF 8 TO 16 INCHES
  ARE EXPECTED IN THE UINTA MOUNTAINS AND ACROSS THE WASATCH
  PLATEAU. LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS ARE POSSIBLE...PARTICULARLY IN
  THE WASATCH RANGE.

* TIMING...SNOW WILL BEGIN ACROSS THE FAR NORTH THIS MORNING AND
  SPREAD SLOWLY SOUTH THROUGH TONIGHT. THE SNOW WILL CONTINUE AT
  TIMES THURSDAY INTO THURSDAY NIGHT BEFORE TAPERING OFF.

* SNOW LEVELS...STARTING AROUND 6000 FEET EARLY TODAY THEN RISING
  TO AROUND 8000 FEET DURING THE DAY. SNOW LEVELS WILL FALL BACK
  BELOW 6000 FEET ON THURSDAY.

Washington:

* TIMING...AREAS OF FREEZING RAIN IN SNOQUALMIE PASS...STEVENS
  PASS AND WHITE PASS WILL CHANGE OVER TO JUST RAIN BY MIDDAY OR
  EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. PRECIPITATION RATES WILL DIMINISH EARLY
  THIS MORNING. THE FREEZING RAIN MAY BE MIXED WITH SNOW AT TIMES
  THIS MORNING. THERE IS STILL A CHANCE OF FREEZING RAIN THIS
  AFTERNOON.

* MAIN IMPACT...EXPECT SLIPPERY OR ICY ROADS DUE TO FREEZING RAIN
  IN SNOQUALMIE PASS...STEVENS PASS AND WHITE PASS.

* SNOW LEVEL...4000 TO 5000 FEET TODAY...FALLING TO 3500 TO 4000
  FEET THIS EVENING...AND BETWEEN 2500 TO 3000 FEET AFTER MIDNIGHT
  TONIGHT.

Idaho:

...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM PST
THURSDAY...

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS: THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON VALLEYS WILL
  LIKELY SEE 3 TO 5 INCHES OF SNOW. MOUNTAINS WILL SEE 6 TO 11
  INCHES THROUGH THURSDAY.

* TIMING: SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THIS MORNING. THE THREAT OF
  MODERATE VALLEY SNOW WILL WANE LATE WEDNESDAY HOWEVER IT WILL
  LIKELY CONTINUE OVER THE MOUNTAINS.