Colorado Daily Snow

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By Joel Gratz, Founding Meteorologist Posted 5 years ago March 20, 2019

Multiple days of snow, highest confidence for powder in the southern mountains

Summary

Wednesday will be dry, then the first round of snow should focus on the southern mountains with 6-12+ inches from Thursday morning through Friday morning. We’ll see snow continue from Friday through Monday with lighter amounts each day and night though totals could add up to create soft skiing across the state (I have low confidence in exact amounts and timing). Next week, we’ll be dry on Tuesday and Wednesday (March 26-27) then should see a storm on Thursday and Friday (March 28-29).

Short Term Forecast

Wednesday

Hump day will be the last dry day for a while. Expect mostly sunny skies with high temperatures in the 30s. There could be a few more clouds late in the day or early evening as the next storm approaches.

Thursday 3/21 – Monday 3/25

I am grouping these five days together because we’ll see multiple rounds of snow.

Before breaking down the forecast by each day and night, I’ll say that I have low confidence in snow amounts and timing during most of these days. The exception is that I have higher confidence in deeper totals (6-12 inches) in the southern mountains on Thursday and Thursday night which means that the deepest powder could be in the southern mountains on Friday morning.

The maps below paint a reasonable picture of the snow forecast for each day and night but do not much confidence in the exact placement of the snow totals because a lot of this snow will be showery and could wind up falling in a somewhat different spot compared to what the models show.

Thursday: Snow ramps up for the southern mountains. It might be intense in the morning, take a break, then ramp back up on Thursday afternoon/evening. Other mountains will see light amounts. Snow quality will be dense with a snow level between 7,000-8,000 feet.

Thursday Night: Snow keeps going, with the highest confidence in the southern mountains and maybe other spots in the central or even northern mountains eke out decent totals.

Friday: Showers continue and temperatures cool a bit.

Friday Night: Again, showers continue and we see a bit more cooling.

Saturday: Snow should wind down. Saturday morning might offer the softest conditions for the most mountains thanks to snow from Thursday and Friday softening the base.

Saturday Night: Showers likely return.

Sunday: Showers continue as another weak system moves into Colorado. Temperatures start to cool again.

Sunday Night: We could see a period of more intense snow as the storm moves over or close to Colorado. The snow MIGHT be deepest just east of the divide, though I have low confidence in this at the moment. Temperatures keep cooling so the snow quality could improve.

Monday: Showers continue (sense a theme here?!).

Monday Night: Snow likely ramps down.

Best Powder

I think Thursday afternoon or Friday morning has the best chance for powder in the southern mountains (6-12+ inches).

Non-southern mountains could see the softest snow Saturday morning and again on Sunday last chair or Monday first chair.

Like I said, my overall confidence is low in forecasted snow amounts and snow totals for the five days from Thursday through Monday because the storms will be weak and move in a wobbly manner.

Something to keep an eye on is that a lot of moisture can translate into a lot of snow accumulation quite quickly with any showers, so it could snow for just 1-3 hours and a mountain could get a quick 2-5 inches. This makes forecasting exact snow totals pretty darn hard!

Extended Forecast

Tuesday 3/26 – Wednesday 3/27

Chances are high that these days will be dry.

Thursday 3/28 – Friday 3/29

It’s still over one week away but all models generally agree that we’ll see a colder and potent storm later next week. Keep your eye on this time as we might be able to sneak out at least a moderate powder day, erring toward better snow on Friday as the storm may not arrive until sometime on Thursday.

Quick Note – I’ll be talking to Colorado’s Governor Polis on Facebook Live today (Wednesday, March 20)

We’ve had a LOT of snow this season with a snowpack that’s 140% of average. That caught the eye of some of Colorado’s top officials and one thing led to another and Governor Polis set up a 15-minute Facebook Live chat with me and two other outdoor industry folks this afternoon. I probably won’t say anything new to folks who read this Colorado Daily Snow, though if you want to see that I’m a real person and not an AI bot, tune in today, Wednesday, March 20 at 345pm MDT on Governor Polis’ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/jaredpolis/

Thanks for reading!

My next update will be on Thursday morning.

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

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.

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