Powder Alert: East Crushes West as November Storms Shift South and North

November 2025 has brought some seriously impressive snowfall to the East Coast, completely outshining the early-season dumps out West. Jay Peak in northern Vermont stole the spotlight by logging an eye-popping 89 inches of snow in just the past week. According to Powderchasers.com, this puts Jay Peak on track to hit nearly 100 inches for the year-to-date total before December even arrives. This kind of snowfall has already surpassed all totals seen in the Western resorts so far, making northern Vermont the place to be for powder chasers right now. It looks like Jay Peak could be headed toward one of its snowiest Novembers ever, leaving iconic Western ski spots in its wake. Out West, the action has been a bit more modest but still noteworthy. A strong atmospheric river last week drenched California with moisture, delivering solid snowfall totals especially in the southern Sierra. Mammoth Mountain’s Main Lodge picked up between 13 to 18 inches, and the summit likely saw upwards of 2 to 3 feet. Other resorts like Kirkwood scored over a foot, Palisades Tahoe around 8 inches, and surprisingly, Lee Canyon near Las Vegas grabbed about 13 inches. Most Tahoe resorts received between 6 and 14 inches, which is decent but still pales compared to Vermont’s massive dumps. Elsewhere, Snowbasin saw 6 to 8 inches, Wolf Creek got 7 inches, Brian Head tallied 6 to 8 inches, and Arizona Snowbowl recorded 3 inches. Photos from Mammoth showed deep snowpacks, and Kirkwood’s base finally started to look like true winter. Looking ahead, lingering moisture will tease the Tahoe and Mammoth areas with a few more inches early this week. However, the real snowstorm is shifting southeast, expected to hit the 4-Corners region — southern Utah, northern Arizona, San Juans of Colorado, and New Mexico — from late Wednesday through Friday. Powderchasers has already issued a powder alert for this region with models forecasting healthy snowfall totals through November 21. Brian Head in Utah, Arizona Snowbowl, Telluride, and Wolf Creek are expected to see between 5 and 11+ inches. The NAM model is even more bullish, predicting double-digit snowfall for Telluride and Wolf Creek, plus some upslope surprises for the Front Range foothills. The GFS and European models are more conservative but still expect between 4 to 7 inches for the San Juans. Either way, Arizona and southern Utah look set to get buried. The central and northern Rockies seem to be missing out this time around. Further out, the longer-range outlook suggests the Pacific Northwest and Canadian resorts will see a return to wetter conditions late in the week into early next week. High-elevation resorts could accumulate several feet above 5,000 feet by November 25. However, rain might threaten lower elevation bases until colder air arrives around the 24th. Overall, if you’re chasing jaw-dropping early-season snow totals, Vermont should be your destination. For those focused on West Coast powder, the 4-Corners region is about to get seriously loaded this weekend, while the East Coast continues to rack up snow with a smirk. Tim Konrad, founder of Unofficial Networks and a seasoned skier with two decades of experience in the ski industry, started his blog back in 2006 from Lake Tahoe with his brother John. Since then, the site has grown into one of the world’s leading sources for ski and weather info, providing timely updates like this one to powder lovers everywhere.