NOAA is warning of heavy snow for parts of Eastern and Northern California, Southern Oregon and Western Nevada on November 14 and 15, giving the western United States an early look at a winter hazard that could land hard in high country. The forecast appears on NOAA's Climate Prediction Center U.S. Hazards Outlook Map for November 14 through 20, published on November 6, 2026.
The pink-shaded area on the map covers a broad stretch of the West, but the forecast does not give a snowfall total for the zone as a whole. NOAA defines heavy snow as four or more inches in 12 hours or six or more inches in 24 hours, so the warning points to a meaningful storm rather than a light dusting.
The strongest signal is over high elevations. The Climate Prediction Center described a moderate risk of heavy snow across the Klamath Mountains and the Sierra Nevada Mountains on November 14 and 15, areas that include several ski resorts. That is the part of the map that will matter most to travelers, mountain communities and anyone planning to move through those passes.
Farther north and east, the agency also outlined a slight risk of heavy snow at high elevations across the Cascades and parts of the Northern Intermountain, Great Basin and Central and Northern Rockies between November 14 and 17. That broader setup suggests the hazard is not limited to one ridge line, even if the heaviest risk is concentrated in the California and Oregon mountains first.
The unanswered piece is how much snow will actually pile up inside the pink zone. The map flags the threat window and the terrain most exposed, but the total snowfall remains unspecified, which leaves the forecast useful for planning but short of a full accumulation estimate. For people in the affected mountains, the next checkpoint is whether later outlooks keep the heavy snow signal in place as November 14 approaches.
