Patrick on Mar 1, 2014
Rendezvous Lodge - Pano Cam
Cody Bowl
Tram Station Cam
Base of Bridger Gondola
Sweetwater Gondola, Teewinot Base
Mountain View
Apres Vous
Patrick on Mar 1, 2014
Jackson Hole hasn’t seen a February with more snow since 1986. February has been the second snowiest on record, with well over 11 feet falling (140″ to be exact). Since the snow globe got shaken up on 1/27, there have only been three days without measurable snowfall. Mother nature isn’t calling it quits either, with a Winter Storm Warning through Sunday morning forecasting big snow in the Tetons and fat flakes currently falling. Join us in taking a look back at a truly incredible month of riding powder.
The cycle of snow kicked off in earnest with 19″ on 1/30 & 1/31, but we’re just talking about February. After the strong finish to January, we saw a few inches on each of the first two days of February. Here on February 2nd, Jess McMillan starts the month off right with fresh snow and pillows (which have probably long since been buried).
Steady snow all week turned into big snow on February 7th
12″ new on February 8th
Another 10″ was reported on 2/9 and on 2/10 things (sort of) cleared up a bit and the Crags and Casper Bowl opened up. A short in-bounds hike yielded turns like these:
Steady snow continued, but by 2/13 BIG snow was back, with 12″ reported:
Steady snow continued, morphing into big snow once again. 11″ new on February 15th brought powder action like this with Adam Dowell.
By the time 2/17 rolled around we had seen plenty more snow and workers had to dig out above Tower 5 to make room for the tram. It seems like this is now becoming a daily occurrence.
2/17 turned into a rare bluebird February day. Jess McMillan mixes Vitamin D with powder turns:
Almost another foot of snow later on 2/20, and Corbet’s Couloir was primed for hucking
When the report was 11″ on 2/21, it really started to feel like Groundhog Day in Jackson Hole. With about a week of the month to go we started to realize what a truly special February we were witnessing.
2/22 brought 4″ overnight but with snow all day long and turns like this were not hard to find.
19″ was the report on 2/23 (Weather Geeks tune in here for more info)
2/25 saw a mix of high winds and sunny skies, perfectly buffing out the mountain
2/26 dawned blue and was one of those truly special powder days (more photos) and hopefully applied a slight suntan to Jackson Hole residents that had been living in a virtual snow globe for a month.
2/28 was the last day of February and it was only fitting that it was stormy with 7″ reported overnight. Here the Steep & Deep Adaptive camp gets into the goods.
February may be over but it is STILL snowing hard in Jackson Hole.
For those that like to geek out on the numbers, here is a great rundown of stats thanks to Bob Comey of the JH Avy Lab:
– February 2014 is the second snowiest February on record in the resorts 48 year history. Only the historic February of 1986 (28 years ago) was snowier, and that year saw the mountain actually closed for 8 days due to extreme avalanche conditions. As wild as that winter was, February of 2014 only lagged behind by a few inches.
– February 2014 (remember too that February is the shortest month of the year) ranks #4 overall for moisture on record in the 48 year history of JHMR.
– The Raymer Plot (located at 9,300′, about 1,200′ shy of the summit) saw 140″ of snow in February and there were storms stacked on both ends of the month, with a big late January storm and the big storm that is currently ringing in the start of March.
– The upper mountain snowfall in February 2014 was 205% of normal, and 176% of normal at the base.
– As much snowfall as we’ve seen, the moisture content pushes the numbers even higher. Rendezvous Bowl moisture in February 2014 was a staggering 263% of normal and moisture was 285% of normal at the base of the mountain.
These numbers lend some perspective to what a truly special month it has been. We hope you’ve been able to join in the powder harvest. Here’s to a snowy finish to the season!
