by meteorologist Jim Woodmencey
It’s Thanksgiving week and time to update the winter outlook for the coming months, as snow enthusiasts anticipate the powder yet to come. I’ll start with the latest outlook from NOAA for December through January, issued on November 21st, 2024. NOAA’s Outlook The long-range outlook from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center for December 2024 through February … Continue reading Winter Outlook 2024-25
A recent article in the Jackson Hole News & Guide entitled, “In Teton park, nights are becoming warmer”, naturally caught my meteorological eye. The article was generated from a recent climate assessment done for Grand Teton National Park. That report analyzed the historic temperature data from the Moran weather station, shown in the graph provided … Continue reading Teton park nights are warmer, and we caused it
Much is said these days about temperatures, but very little is told about how those temperatures are measured. There are various types of thermometers used at established weather stations, each uses slightly different instrumentation. Here I’ll describe the different types of thermometers used to take our temperature and how that instrumentation has changed over the … Continue reading Taking our Temperature and Thermometers
It was a slow start to the Winter of 2023-24, but a big February and record March snowfall saved our winter. The winter ended with above average snowfall in both the Jackson Hole valley and up in the mountains. Think back to how grim the winter was looking around here all through December and into … Continue reading Snowfall Summary for Winter 2023-24
Is there such a thing as a typical El Niño or La Niña? Every year there is always a lot of talk about El Niño and La Niña and how it might affect the weather, especially our winter snowfall. The terms have become quite commonplace, although I suspect most people don’t fully understand what these … Continue reading El Nino, La Nina, Whatever
Looking back at 2023, I would have to say that it provided more good weather news than bad. It was a year that would begin with abundant snowfall and very cold temperatures throughout the winter months, followed by a cool and very wet summer, only to end that trend with two months of warmer and … Continue reading 2023 Jackson Hole Weather Review
Almost as soon as October rolls around, I start getting hit with the same perennial questions: “When is it going to start snowing?”, and “What kind of winter are we going to have?” I don’t particularly like winter to start too early, summers are way too short here in Jackson Hole, and I usually welcome … Continue reading Winter 2023-24 Outlook is quite varied
Click on the image to view the You Tube video of this presentation by meteorologist Jim Woodmencey for the Geologists of Jackson Hole in February of 2023. Introduction: Meteorologist Jim Woodmencey has lived and worked in Jackson Hole since 1982 and has forecast, studied, and written about Jackson Hole’s weather for … Continue reading Weather History of Jackson Hole
News headlines around the globe last week proclaimed that July 4th, 2023, was the hottest day ever recorded on Earth. Some of those headlines read: “Planet’s temp hits new high”, “Earth’s hottest day in recorded history”, “Alert: The hottest week on Earth”. Temperatures apparently broke the record four days in a row, from July … Continue reading Did the Planet really have its Hottest Day Ever? No.
One year ago, we were lamenting about a sub-par winter season. We had a big December for snowfall in 2021, then a lackluster January through March in 2022. Only to get dumped on by one of the snowiest April’s on record. This year the story was a little different, snow started falling in late October … Continue reading Jackson’s Cold and Snowy Winter of 2022-23