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 terms mean.  We just assume that whatever is going on with the weather is because, “It’s an El Nino year”, or “It’s a La Nina year”. This winter started out warm and dry in Jackson. Blame that on El Niño, right? Then, it started snowing in mid-January, followed by the major dump of snow we just ha ..read more

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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 drier weather. That was 2023 in a nutshell. I’ll summarize all the ups and downs, highs and lows, and highlights of the weather experienced here in Jackson Hole this past year. I will also look at how 2023’s weather compared to recent years and to the long-term averages, from the data at the Jackson Cli ..read more

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 any extension of summer-like weather into the early fall.  Last year snowfall began in town on October 24th, 2022 and it kept coming. The Winter of 2022-23 then went on to be a record-breaking snowfall winter for the mountains. This year, the first snowfall wit accumulation in the Town of J ..read more

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 over 30 years. This presentation explores Jackson Hole’s weather history, beginning with when the earliest weather observations began, to where our local climate stations are located. It will also discuss how those observations are recorded and what has ..read more

  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 3rd to July 6th. Oh my, that’s alarming, especially since it is only early July and our warmest days, in the Northern Hemisphere at least, are yet to come this month and into August. If you were to look under the hood though and read past the headlines, you would ..read more

November 2022 was the coldest November on record in Jackson, Wyoming. Let me repeat that, to let it sink in, this November was the coldest November Jackson has ever experienced. And that’s saying something, because it happened without breaking a single daily temperature record in November. The month of November was just consistently cold, with 12 days reporting morning low temperatures that were below zero Fahrenheit. The average low temperature for November 2022 was 6.2 degrees, which is a full 10 degrees colder than Jackson’s long-term average monthly low temperature in November. The averag ..read more

According to the Glossary of Weather and Climate, Indian Summer is defined as: A time interval in mid or late autumn, of unseasonably warm weather, generally clear skies, sunny but hazy days, and cool nights. At least one killing frost and preferably a substantial period of normally cool weather must precede this warm spell in order for it to be considered a true “Indian Summer”.  It does not occur every year; and in some years two or three Indian Summers may occur. The weather in Jackson Hole and across much of the West and Rockies during the first 3 weeks of October 2022,  fit that ..read more

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We are now past the Autumnal Equinox and for the remainder of the fall season the days will be getting shorter and the sun a little lower in the sky as we roll closer to the winter season. That should come as no surprise, as this happens every year around this time. The other thing that happens every year around this time is people start asking me, “What kind of winter are we going to have?” The more diehard skiers actually start asking before the end of August. So, every year, I feel obligated to take a look at all of the various outlooks for the coming winter season. This year I’ll include b ..read more