The western states saw their first widespread snow of the season thanks to a combination of cold air and moisture from a southward dip in the jet stream over the region this week.

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More than a foot of snow fell in some areas, including northeastern Nevada where 18 inches of snow snapped the branches of fruit trees in Tuscarora on Tuesday. A SNOTEL sensor nine miles east of Jarbridge estimated 32 inches of snow had fallen. A National Weather Service employee measured 24 inches of snow in Three Creek, Idaho, near the Nevada border southwest of Twin Falls.

The first measurable snow of the season blanketed the Denver metro area with around 1 inch of snow early Thursday morning. Snow and black ice in southeast Wyoming prompted the shutdown of a stretch of Interstate 80 east of Laramie early Thursday. First snowfalls of the season also were observed in Flagstaff, Arizona (8.8 inches), Bozeman, Montana (2 inches at Montana State University), and Cheyenne, Wyoming (1.4 inches as of midnight Thursday).

First Widespread Snow Cover

An analysis from the National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center (NOHRSC) Friday morning showed that 15.4 percent of the Lower 48 states is now covered by snow. The majority of this snow cover has grown in the last couple of days, particularly across parts of Montana, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, northern Arizona and California's Sierra Nevada.

As you would expect, this is the largest areal snow coverage in the Lower 48 since last spring. Specifically, it's the most snow cover since 15.6 percent on April 9, 2015.

This animation shows how snow cover expanded Nov. 2-5, 2015 across the western United States. Darker blue shadings represent deeper snowpack.

(NOAA)

This is the first significant snowpack of the season for California's Sierra Nevada, which provides about one-third of the drinking water to the state once it melts in the spring.

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That said, much more snowpack is needed there through late fall, winter and early spring to help with the ongoing drought. in helping to boost the potential for snowfall in the months ahead.

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Interestingly, the area covered by snow in the Sierra on Nov. 4 (45.4 percent) was higher than it was on April 1 (8.3 percent). April 1 was the , by far the lowest on record for that date. Early April is when snowpack is typically at its peak due to the accumulation of snow throughout the previous fall, winter and early spring.

This animation shows how snow cover expanded Nov. 2-4, 2015 across the Sierra Nevada. Darker blue shadings represent deeper snowpack.

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