Colorado Daily Snow

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By Joel Gratz, Founding Meteorologist Posted 6 years ago March 7, 2018

Snow this weekend, but no clue about the details

Summary

Look forward to mostly sunny and warm weather for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. From Friday night through Saturday night, weak energy may bring a few inches of snow to the northern and central mountains. Then from Sunday night through Monday night, another weak storm might bring a few inches of snow to the southern mountains. I think that the middle of next week will be dry, then we’ll see a stormy period between about March 16-20 or a bit longer.

Short Term Forecast

Tuesday was a bluebird day across Colorado with high temperatures in the upper teens to mid-20s.

Wednesday will also be sunny and dry with warmer temperatures, likely topping out in the upper 20s to low 30s.

Thursday and Friday will stay dry with temperatures rising into the 30s and low 40s, and there could be a few more clouds on Friday.

The next chance for snow will occur from Friday night through Sunday morning as weak energy moves from the northwest to southeast across Colorado. Saturday will offer the best chance for snow for the northern and central mountains with a few inches likely and perhaps up to 5-6 inches if we get lucky.

After the Saturday system, another weak storm will track toward New Mexico on Sunday and Monday. If this storm does not track too far to the south, it could bring respectable snow totals (3-6+ inches) to the southern mountains from later Sunday through Monday.

I do not have high confidence in the details of either the Saturday storm or the Sunday/Monday system. The model forecasts are all over the place.

Berthoud Pass, in the northern mountains.

McClure Pass, in the central mountains.

Wolf Creek Pass, in the southern mountains.

What I know about this weekend and early next week is that temperatures will be rather warm (in the 20s) and there will be enough moisture around for respectable (3-6+) snow amounts. But the details are still sketchy.

Right now, I’d target Saturday or Sunday morning to find softer snow in the northern and central mountains, and keep your eye on Monday or Tuesday in the southern mountains (unless the storm tracks too far to the south, in which case there will be little or no snow in Colorado).

Extended Forecast

We will likely see one to three days of dry weather during the middle of next week (Tuesday to Thursday), then there should be multiple chances for snow between Friday (March 16) and at least Tuesday (March 20).

The European and American GFS models continue to show a stormy pattern (trough) over the western US during these dates.

Most models keep the center of the trough to our west, so this might mean that we’ll see somewhat weaker systems as they slide east into the Rockies, but no matter, the period around March 16-20 should be active and should offer multiple chances for powder days.

Thanks for reading!

JOEL GRATZ

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Geography Key

Northern Mountains
Steamboat, Granby, Beaver Creek, Vail, Ski Cooper, Copper, Breckenridge, Keystone, Loveland, Abasin, Winter Park, Berthoud Pass, Eldora, Rocky Mountain National Park, Cameron Pass

Along the Divide
Loveland, Arapahoe Basin, Winter Park, Berthoud Pass

East of the Divide
Eldora, Echo, Rocky Mountain National Park, Cameron Pass

Central Mountains
Aspen, Sunlight, Monarch, Crested Butte, Irwin, Powderhorn

Southern Mountains
Telluride, Silverton – north side of the southern mountains | Purgatory, Wolf Creek – south side of the southern mountains

About Our Forecaster

Joel Gratz

Founding Meteorologist

Joel Gratz is the Founding Meteorologist of OpenSnow and has lived in Boulder, Colorado since 2003. Before moving to Colorado, he spent his childhood as a (not very fast) ski racer in eastern Pennsylvania.

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