Tuesday was a beautiful day across Colorado with virtually no clouds and cool temperatures (for this time of year) that mostly stayed in the 20s on the mountain.

Now on Wednesday morning, we are seeing cloudier weather due to a fast, west-to-east flow of mid-and-high level moisture from the Pacific Ocean.

Even though we’ll see partly-to-mostly cloudy skies on Wednesday and Thursday, there should be little or no precipitation during this time (perhaps just a few light showers or flurries in the northern mountains from time-to-time).

Storm from Thursday night through Friday night

All models have been increasing their snowfall forecast for this system, so I think it’s reasonable to say that Friday should be a powder day in the northern and central mountains.

Expect snow to start on Thursday night and continue through Friday afternoon with an average of 4-8 inches in the northern and central mountains.

The good parts of this storm are the longer duration of snow (about 18 hours from Thursday night through Friday afternoon) and lots of moisture, which can equate to deeper snow totals.

The bad part of this storm will be the warm temperature. Expect denser, thicker powder, and the snow level could be around 8,000-9,000 feet, which means rain at the base of some of the lower-elevation mountains.

You'll find powder from Friday morning (due to the snow on Thursday night) and more snow falling during the day. The higher-elevation mountains will likely have the best quality snow.

A break on Saturday

We should see snow end by Friday afternoon/evening, with drier and warm weather on Saturday. Temperatures could zoom up into the 40s and 50s on Saturday due to a warm wind from the southwest ahead of our next storm. A few models show some precipitation making it into Colorado during the day on Saturday, though I am skeptical of this.

Storm from Saturday night through Monday morning

We have been talking about this system for days, and the forecast has not changed very much.

Expect intense snow on Saturday night into Sunday morning, then more scattered snow on Sunday, and then additional snow in the northern mountains on Sunday night. Total accumulations should be in the 5-15 inch range, with the deeper totals in the northern and central mountains.

The good parts of this storm are again the long duration of the snow (about 30 hours from Saturday night through Monday morning), lots of moisture early in the storm, and cooler air on Sunday night which should help to create fluffier snow.

The bad part of this storm will once again be the warm temperature on Saturday night and Sunday morning, which will likely lead to snow levels initially around 9,000 feet.

My thought for the best time to ski powder will be on Sunday morning due to the snow on Saturday night, Sunday during the day due to additional snow showers and slightly cooler temperatures, and then on Monday morning in the northern mountains when we could see colder, fluffier snow on top of the thicker snow that fell on Sunday.

Some mountains will be closing on Sunday, and these areas will likely have a powder day to close out the season.

For mountains that will remain open beyond Sunday, there are more storms in the forecast!

One weaker system should bring 2-4 or 3-6 inches of snow to the northern mountains on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning (April 10-11).

Then a stronger and colder storm could hit Colorado sometime between next Thursday and Saturday, April 12-14. Below is the forecast from the average of multiple versions of the American GFS model for Friday, April 13th. The storm is the area of blue colors just to our west.

This season started with very little snow, but the atmosphere seems to be trying to make up for it with snow throughout April...hope you get to enjoy it!

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