Colorado Daily Snow

Heads up, there may be fresher snow! Read the latest Colorado Daily Snow

By Sam Collentine, Meteorologist Posted 6 years ago March 24, 2018

Surfy Saturday

Summary

Soft turns will be found on Saturday morning, along with mostly sunny skies and only a few passing clouds/showers through Sunday afternoon. Clouds and chances for snow increase for all mountains on Sunday night and into Monday. Good shot for snow east of the divide on Monday night and again for all mountains on Wednesday and Thursday. Drier outlook to start April.

Short Term Forecast

Our latest round of snow played out about as expected for most areas, with a few locations pumping out higher than expected totals. Below is the 24-hour breakdown for all resorts. 

Northern Mountains

Beaver Creek: 12"
Steamboat: 11"
Vail: 10"
Breckenridge: 8"
Copper: 8"
Ski Cooper: 6"
Keystone: 6"
Loveland: 5"
Arapahoe Basin: 4"
Winter Park: 4"
Eldora: 2"

Central Mountains

Aspen Highlands: 11"
Snowmass: 8"
Crested Butte: 7"
Aspen Mountain: 5"
Powderhorn: 4"
Buttermilk: 3"
Monarch: 2"
Sunlight: 2"

Southern Mountains

Wolf Creek: 8"
Silverton: 6"
Telluride: 4"
Purgatory: 2"

I feel pretty good about all of these totals, with the exception being Beaver Creek, Steamboat, and Vail. This storm featured a firehose of moisture and it looks like we had the primary wind shift just enough to the west and slightly northwest on Friday to give the highest totals to the above locations. 

If you do not see the animated gif below, click here: https://opsw.co/2IORKP4

The upper elevations will be soft and surfy on Saturday morning so get out and get after it!

Moving onto the forecast, mostly sunny skies and mild temperatures will now be the story on Saturday and into Sunday. There's still just enough moisture in the air to maybe produce a few high-elevation showers each day but that's really it. Look for daytime highs in the upper 30s to low 40s, with overnight lows only dropping into the 20s on Saturday night. 

Our next weather-maker will then begin to make its presence felt during the second half of Sunday with clouds and chances for snow through Sunday night. Totals will range from a dusting to a few inches through Monday morning. 

We'll then be watching for the storm to slow down and spin over the Desert Southwest come Monday afternoon and into Tuesday morning. This will combine with a decent cold front from the north and increased moisture throughout eastern Colorado to give areas east of the divide a good shot for snow on Monday night, with lighter totals for all other locations. 

Below is a look at the latest European ensemble snow forecast for Echo Mountain, which is located just west of Denver and south of Idaho Springs. The top graphic provides 51 variations of the model, while the bottom graphic pulls together the ensemble mean. 

In total, locations east of the divide (RMNP, Eldora, Echo Mountain, Monarch) will be looking at 3-6 inches, with 1-3 inches elsewhere across the state. The softest turns will be found on Tuesday morning for the areas mentioned above. 

Extended Forecast

Looking further ahead, I'm beginning to have slightly more confidence on a quick-moving system from the north on Wednesday and into Thursday. This doesn't look overly impressive but it could provide another nice refresh for all areas. 

We'll then likely turn dry heading into the final days of March and into the first week of April. Colorado will be right on the edge of the main storm track to our north and only a slight shift south could bring us back into the party so always, stay tuned for the latest update each morning. 

Thanks for reading!

SAM COLLENTINE

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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

Sam Collentine

Meteorologist

Sam Collentine is the Chief Operating Officer of OpenSnow and lives in Basalt, Colorado. Before joining OpenSnow, he studied Atmospheric Science at the University of Colorado, spent time at Channel 7 News in Denver, and at the National Weather Service in Boulder.

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