Colorado Daily Snow
By Joel Gratz, Founding Meteorologist Posted 5 years ago August 27, 2018
Snow to the north of Colorado with no other big storms on the horizon
Summary
Temperatures will cool a bit on Tuesday but then move back toward normal for the next 10 days. Late August and early September are typically drier times of the year, and it looks like the weather pattern we’ll see this year will indeed be on the drier side. Perhaps a brief moisture surge will be some precipitation around Labor Day.
Short Term Forecast
Rain totals this past weekend
On Friday, I showed the following forecast for rainfall for the weekend. The best chances were in the southern mountains.
The actual rainfall on Saturday generally matched the forecast with some bullseyes of heavier precipitation in the southern mountains.
The precipitation totals are not yet in for Sunday, but looking at the radar, it seems to me that the south also won the rainfall contest on Sunday.
So the forecast for southern-mountain rain was reasonable, though of course, with thunderstorm-type precipitation, the rain does not fall in an even blanket over a wide area, and there are some locally heavier and lighter totals.
Snow to the north of Colorado
A cool storm over Montana and Wyoming is dropping temperatures to around the freezing mark at 10,000 feet.
The cool temperatures allowed snow to fall on the upper mountain at Jackson Hole.
The view at Jackson Hole on Sunday, before the storm:
The view at Jackson Hole on Monday morning, during the storm:
The snow will melt soon, but still fun to see!
Extended Forecast
Here in Colorado, the 10-day forecast below for Loveland sums it up. Mostly dry with normal temperatures. At 11,750 feet, this means highs around 60 and lows in the mid-to-upper 30s.
Some models show a moisture
Levi’s first birthday
My son Levi turns one year old today (August 27). It was a fun and sometimes a challenging year. I appreciate all of the emails asking about him and sending him well wishes.
A few days ago, my family and I took Levi to NCAR, just up the road from my house. NCAR stands for the “National Center for Atmospheric Research”. It is a gorgeous building built on a mesa above Boulder with amazing views in all directions. Inside, in addition to offices used by scientists that are conducting weather research, there is a weather museum that is free and open to the public (thanks to our tax dollars).
While Levi enjoyed the cloud exhibit, he really loved the tornado exhibit:
Photo: Lyn Alweis
If you find yourself in Boulder, head up to NCAR sometime. Parking is free, the hiking trails that leave from the building are lovely, and the museum inside is open most weekdays and weekends during normal daytime hours. Here’s more information: https://scied.ucar.edu/visit
OpenSummit
If you want detailed weather forecasts for your summer and fall hiking, biking, and climbing adventures, please download the newest update to our OpenSummit app.
Download OpenSummit (iPhone only)
We just released an update that increases the number of mountains from the ~55 Colorado 14ers to about 1,000 of the highest and/or notable summits and hiking areas across the country.
People ask me all the time about what I do in the summer. In addition to working on features for OpenSnow for next season, we spend considerable time improving and expanding OpenSummit. Thanks for checking it out!
Thanks for reading … next update on Wednesday, August 30.
JOEL GRATZ
Announcements
Vail Prize Raffle
A friend of mine helps to run the Vail Symposium, which hosts community events with expert speakers throughout the year. Their annual fundraising raffle is going on now and the grand prize package is a seven-day luxury stay in Vail. I thought this might be an enticing prize for the OpenSnow community in Colorado. Here’s the link for more information: https://go.rallyup.com/vailvacation
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.
Free OpenSnow App
