Thursday was sunny and warm with gustier winds compared to what we saw during the previous two days.

Now on Friday morning, satellite and webcams show more clouds across the state, and that’s what we’ll see for throughout the day as moisture increases ahead of our next storm.

Snowfall from the next system should arrive in the northern mountains later on Friday night and continue through Saturday midday or mid-afternoon. This will be a fast-moving storm, which will limit accumulations. The storm will also bring a reasonable amount of moisture, and the jet stream will be overhead, and both of these factors provide a chance for higher-than-forecasted snow totals.

Most models show an average of 2-4 inches across the northern (and northern part of the central) mountains, though like I said there could be a few areas that might get up to 6 inches.

The best chance to ski powder will be on Saturday morning and midday in the northern mountains … enjoy!

After that system, we should see dry weather on Saturday evening, Saturday night, and Sunday morning.

The next storm will glide toward Colorado from the southwest, arriving on Sunday midday, and it could hang around through Tuesday morning. This will be a weak and disorganized storm, but it could bring enough moisture for light snow to fall across the state, with the best chance for 2-5+ inches in the southern mountains. It is hard to pin this storm down, so I kept a broad brush on the forecast with light snow for most areas and the best chance for a low-end powder day will be sometime on Monday in the southern mountains.

The middle of next week, Tuesday through Wednesday, should be dry and warm as we will be ahead of the next storm that will just be moving into California.

There is a chance that a piece of energy from the next storm could bring snow to Colorado as early as next Thursday, but the brunt of that storm should wait another day or two and the best chance for powder for most mountains should be next Saturday and Sunday (March 17-18).

Also, it’s likely that we could see pieces of energy bring snow not just next weekend, but early the following week as well, through at least March 21st.

It’s too early to look at the exact timing or exact snowfall amounts for the upcoming storm cycle, but the average of 51 versions of the European computer model show about a foot of snow for most mountains with nearly double that in the southern mountains.

That’s a pretty good signal that we should have a chance for a significant powder day or two sometime next weekend through early the following week. Keep your schedule open:-)

Thanks for reading!

JOEL GRATZ

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