Western snowpacks to keep growing as significant storm sweeps across region

Significant mountain snow, valley rain, gusty winds and cooler temperatures are some of the impacts that will occur on Wednesday.

Western Montana and Utah will get the most snow on Wednesday as a cold front sweeps across the west.

Scattered snow showers will only be seen in the mountains of California, Oregon, Washington and northern Idaho. There are winter storm warnings for the Sierra Nevada through Wednesday.

Historically, this is when we would start to see snow in places like the Sierra Nevada, but last year it was a bit slow to start. This is encouraging that we are off to a good start.

According to the California Highway Patrol, the snow that fell in the Sierra Nevada led to multiple spin outs on I-80.

In Montana, there will be heavy snow in the western third of the state. Travel down to the passes is expected to be negatively impacted by the snow levels.

Travel to Marias and Lookout passes could be in danger. Up to 3 inches of snow is predicted to fall in Central and Eastern Montana on Wednesday. There will be reduced visibility due to the quick-burst nature of the snow.

Understanding winter weather is dependent on the snow rate.

The majority of the snow will be gone by mid-afternoon. Lows will be in the teens and highs will be in the 30s by Wednesday.

A band of moderate to heavy snow will be set up across east-central Nevada, Utah and southwest Montana.

There will be mountain snow and valley rain on Wednesday.

The snow will intensify as the front stalls. The cold air behind the front will cause the snow to fall. Valley snow totals will generally be around 2 inches or less, despite the snow remaining in the area.

There is a way to watch the weather on television.

6 inches is expected in the mountains with over a foot above 7,000 feet. The Shell Creek and Snake Range in Nevada are included.

The central and southern Rockies of Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and Arizona will see very high snow levels at the beginning of the day, which will be followed by rain showers.

There are seven snowiest cities in the US.

Behind the front, temperatures will be cooler on Thursday. The snow will be very heavy in the afternoon and evening.

By the time the sun is up on Thursday, there will be a lot of action between Utah, Colorado and Arizona.

Some snow showers could turn into dangerous snow squalls with near-zero visibility and thundersnow due to an upper level low overhead.

By the time the snow ends on Friday, it will have fallen above 6,000 feet and 12 to 24 inches above 8,000 feet. More than 2 feet is possible in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. There are winter storm warnings in place.

"Wherever you have a Winter Storm Warning in effect, that's where you're looking at the biggest impacts when it comes to travel," Merwin said. It might not be easy to be on the roads, and there are parts of the storm where you have to stay off the roads.

There will be snow in northern Arizona.

Light rain can be seen in cities such as San Diego, Phoenix, Yuma and Tucson. Southern California and Arizona will get some rain by Thursday afternoon.

The Front Range urban corridor of Colorado and southeast Wyoming will get some snow on Thursday night. Denver is expected to get its first measurable snow of the season.

Along with the higher elevation snow and chilly temperatures, there will be winds blowing behind the cold front.

There will be widespread gusts over 50 mph and gusts as high as 70 mph in mountain passes.

Merwin said that by the time we get to Friday, we'll start to dwindle things out. As we work our way through the next couple days, it will be very active.

According to long-range forecasts, this is just the beginning of a very snowy start to November across the West, with a period of well-below average temperatures looming for next week.