Chase Powder Daily Snow

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By Powderchaser Steve, Forecaster Posted 6 years ago February 11, 2018

Colorado remains in the highlight with the southern San Juan Mountains favored beginning Monday. Double digits will be found by Tuesday morning.

Summary

Congratulations to Red Gerard to win America's first gold medal at the 2018 Olympics (Men's Slopestyle) At just 17, he's the youngest kid to medal in an Olympic event since the 1920's. The past storm performed as expected with the highest amounts found over Snowmass (16 in 24 hours) which exceeded my original expectations. Telluride scored 6 inches during the day Saturday with 5 overnight so if you chased south you would have scored double powder days as I suggested. The I-70 corridor generally saw 8-10 inches where areas north saw slightly lower amounts (I had originally forecasted higher amounts north). I chased to Eldora where 6-8 inches fell prior to 10 AM making for really good light density pow on 1st chairs Saturday. Elsewhere, in Colorado along I-70 snow began falling heavily by 9 AM and continued through early afternoon (6-10 inches in 5-6 hours). The San Juan mountains and to some extent Aspen nabbed snow later providing afternoon powder and early AM powder this morning. Cold air really increased snow totals as I hinted on my last post where some resorts would approach double digits. The week ahead looks deep for the southern San Juan Mountains that really need a big dump!

Short Term Forecast

Light snow will be falling over the Wasatch tonight and Monday from a splitting trough moving into California.  The Sierra who has been shut out in the past few weeks will see moderate amounts favoring the southern zones near Mammoth (3-7).  Elsewhere it's a tease with lighter amounts. That system splits light snow for the Wasatch Mountains of Utah and moderate snow for northern Arizona and the southern San Juan Mountains.  It will be snowing over Wolf Creek by Monday morning increasing through the day.  Expect last chair to be fun with 3-6 inches and another 3-6 inches Monday night.  Total snowfall should exceed 12 inches by late Tuesday morning. Areas further north will see lower amounts (Purgatory could be decent Tuesday) with 3-5 inches at Telluride who does best with NW wind direction as in the last storm. Silverton may also be in scoring position. The further south or east you travel will see the highest amounts. 

Below: Total snowfall for Colorado through Tuesday morning highlighting the southern San Juans.

Extended Forecast

The middle of the week will feature a moderate dump for coastal and interior BC. The northern Cascades (Baker is favored).  That system works into the the northern Rockies and spreads moderate snow to many areas by Thursday.  The Panhandle of Idaho, Tetons, Montana, Utah, and Colorado will all score moderate snow late Wednesday or Thursday.  Its a bit far out to predict amounts but models seem to hold up decent amounts in Coastal or interior BC, northern Cascades, and eventually moderate dumps for a wide area of the Rockies.  

Below:  Ensembles for Thursday morning moving a trough over the Rockies and Pacific Northwest

Looking out towards next weekend its likely another system move into coastal BC and keep things active. The long term ensembles show we may be entering an active pattern towards the 3rd and 4th week of February.  Its likely, the high pressure ridge that has kept snow away from the Sierra and will break down and open up a door for additional snowfall. 

Image: Ensembles for February 24th.  

Here is a shot of me riding  Eldora yesterday morning as I grabbed 6-7 inches of fresh fluff.  It was cold and light, not excessively deep but very high quality.  Conditions around the mountain were surprisingly very good even off piste.  Summit County scored the goods later that morning followed the northern San Juans in the afternoon.  

 

Thanks for following the chase forecast!  

Powderchaser Steve 

About Our Forecaster

Powderchaser Steve

Forecaster

Powderchaser Steve has over 45 years of experience chasing storms based on his weather and local knowledge of resorts on both the East and West Coasts. His snow intel will likely land him at the deepest resort and almost never missing "First Chair" in the process. Follow "The Chase" on OpenSnow to find out where the deepest snow may be falling.

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