On the last day of this Corona-Virus-shortened ski season the Town of Jackson and the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort both broke snowfall records. That happened just when we thought spring was arriving early this March.
Town Snowfall Record:12 inches of new snow was recorded at the Jackson Climate Station on the morning of March 15th, 2020. That 24-hour snowfall was recorded between 9am Saturday & 9am Sunday, March 14 to 15. That broke the old record for this date of 5.5 inches in 2006.
That also exceeds the previous “official” one-day snowfall record for the month of March in the Town of Jackson of 10 inches, from March 17, 1971. Jackson only averages 11 inches of snow for the entire month of March.
Note: There is one other snowfall recording from March 12th, 1906 that showed 12 inches in one day, and another from March 25th, 1907 that showed 14 inches in one day. These recordings are not from the Town of Jackson, but from an unverified location on a ranch outside of town, possibly near Ely Springs.
Precipitation: In the precipitation department, the Jackson Climate Station received 1.15 inches of water in that snow recorded on Sunday morning March 15th, 2020. That is the second greatest one-day precipitation amount ever recorded in one-day during the month of March, behind March 3rd, 1995, when 1.80 inches was recorded.
JHMR Snowfall Record:At the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, at the Rendezvous Bowl Site ( 9,580-ft.) 23 inches of snow was recorded on the morning of March 15, 2020. (measured from 5am Saturday to 5am Sunday March 14 to 15). That exceeds the old one-day snowfall record up there for that date of 16 inches, from March 15, 2016.
The Storm that Brought The Snow
Below is a Satellite Image showing the Low-pressure that is parked along the Northwest Coast rotating Pacific moisture inland from California to Wyoming the last 2 days. The center of that Low will shift south along the West Coast the next 2 days, bringing Jackson, WY lesser amounts of snow trough the early part of the coming week.
Posted by meteorologist Jim Woodmencey