Forecasters Predicting Alpine Snowmelt as Temps Expected To Soar Out West
A heat wave is almost here, according to forecasters, and it may lead to earlier than usual high-elevation snowmelt amid an already tough and often snowless ski season out West.
“Warmer conditions are coming for the West! Probabilities reach 90-100% across the Southwest,” the Climate Prediction Center wrote in a recent social media post. “Temps may reach upper 80s over the CA Valley and triple digits over the Desert Southwest.”
“This pattern may lead to early onset of high-elevation snowmelt,” the agency added.
The Climate Prediction Center publishes long- and near-term weather outlooks that indicate the direction the temperature and precipitation might take.
The 8-14 day outlook shows a dark orange splotch over the entire West. The darker the splotch, the higher the odds are that above-normal temperatures will occur. See below. Keep reading for more.
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National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center
In California, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that daily temperature records are a “near guarantee.” The outlet noted that the mercury could surge as much as 30 degrees above normal in parts of the state.
Further east, Phoenix is poised to have its earliest 100-degree day in modern history.
States in the Intermountain West are in the bullseye, too.
BoulderCAST, a team of Colorado meteorologists, predicts that multiple days near or above 80 degrees are coming to Denver.
“This heatwave may be the final nail in the coffin for any hope of snowpack recovery this season in Colorado's Rockies and elsewhere across the West,” they wrote, noting that this is “exactly what we didn’t need in a deepening drought.”
NRCS
While Eastern ski resorts were treated to a memorable and snowy start to the 2025-26 season, winter never really got underway in many places in the West. There have been powder days, of course, but far fewer than skiers are used to. Snowpacks, which are largely below the median, reflect that.
It’s not all bad news for skiers, though. A heatwave is coming, but in the near future, ski resorts in the Pacific Northwest and western Canada are prepping for what could be the largest storm of the season.
Multiple feet of snow are forecasted this week at mountains like Stevens Pass, Whistler Blackcomb, and Crystal Mountain.
And the snow’s already started, with Stevens Pass reporting a 16-inch 24-hour snowfall total Tuesday morning.
Our advice? Get it while it’s good. Then, it might be time to invest in sunscreen and some new dark lenses for your ski goggles. Pumping up the air in your mountain bike tires wouldn’t hurt, either.