The latest storm started to drop snow later in the day on Thursday with periods of intense snow on Thursday night.

Now on Friday morning, the center of the storm is to the east of Colorado and rotating over northwestern Kansas, as shown by the national radar image.

The zoomed-in radar over western Colorado shows that showers are lingering over the central and northern mountains on Friday morning.

Most 24-hour snow reports from Thursday morning through Friday morning are in the 3-8 inch range with a few higher numbers.

Cameron Pass - 10”
Winter Park / Berthoud Pass - 10”
Wolf Creek - 8”
Powderhorn - 8”
Purgatory - 7”
Rocky Mountain National Park - 7”
Crested Butte - 6”
Telluride - 6”

You can see all of Colorado’s snow reports here: http://opensnow.com/state/CO/reports

The area with consistent deep amounts is in the northeast mountains near the divide, from Berthoud Pass northward. This happened as a result of the storm gaining strength just to the east of this area on Thursday night. It also looks like mountains further west and south had a slight advantage, likely with slightly more moisture to work with as the storm moved from west-to-east across the state.

The map below illustrates the 24-hour snow report based on the snow water equivalent (how much liquid you’d measure if you melted the new snow) at backcountry weather stations called SNOTEL.

For the rest of Friday, expect snow showers in the morning followed by dry, sunnier, and warmer weather during the midday and afternoon. Get out early to enjoy the powder before the heat from the higher sun angle of March works over the new snow.

Saturday should be dry for most of the day as we’ll be in between storms.

On Sunday, the next storm will approach from the west but the latest forecasts slow the movement of this system. I expect 3-6+ inches during the day on Sunday for the southern and further western mountains, and the majority of Colorado’s mountains might see the snow starting later in the day on Sunday, closer to the time that lifts close, with little accumulation during the day.

On Sunday night, models are increasing the snow forecast with the chance for 6-12 inches for many central and northern mountains, favoring areas near I-70 and near and east of Vail. As I mentioned in my post on Thursday, the storm setup on Sunday night looks similar to past events that have delivered impressively deep and fluffy powder days, so I agree with the trend in the models for more snow on Sunday night.

Below are two recent forecasts from the CAIC high-resolution 4km WRF model for the 12 hour period from Sunday 600 pm to Monday 600 am. The areas of red show the chance for 10+ inches. Notice that the area of red changes between each model run, so there is still some uncertainty will how the storm will play out. I highlighted Colorado's northern, western, and southern border in the thick black lines.

As I noted earlier, the best chance for the deepest, fluffiest snow on Monday morning will be near and north of I-70, and likely near and east of Vail. We might also see decent accumulations for other areas favored by northwest winds, including Powderhorn, Telluride, Silverton, and Aspen Highlands.

Good news sports fans – the active pattern will continue.

Following the chance for light snow on Monday through Tuesday, we will see a dry day on Wednesday.

Then the next storm should bring snow to Colorado starting on Thursday or Friday (March 22-23) with chances for snow continuing through the end of March. It will not snow every day of this entire 10 day stretch between March 22-31, but the pattern will be conducive to storms near or over Colorado.

If you’ve skied a lot of powder this season, you’ll ski more during the next few weeks.

If you have missed most of the good days this season, you’ll have a chance for redemption through the end of the month (and likely through early April as well).

It’s not over until it’s over, and here in Colorado, we can get great powder days through early May.

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