Colorado Daily Snow

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By Joel Gratz, Founding Meteorologist Posted 4 years ago April 9, 2019

Snow starts Wednesday, powder likely deepest on Thursday morning

Summary

Tuesday will be the last warm day for a while. Snow will start early Wednesday morning and should continue through Thursday afternoon. The majority of mountains will see 5-10 inches, though 12-18 inches is possible for some favored mountains, with the best powder on Thursday morning (more details below). Friday should be dry for part of the day, then we’ll see light snow for the southern and eastern mountains from later Friday through Saturday. Sunday and Monday will be dry, then look for more snow between April 16-18.

Short Term Forecast

Let’s start with the easy part of the forecast. Tuesday will be dry and warm with high temperatures in the upper 40s to low 50s.

Now, let’s move to the fun part of the forecast.

The storm we’ve been expecting is still on track to bring snow on Wednesday and Thursday. The latest models show the chance for deeper snow totals for a few mountains, so the only changes to the forecast are to increase the snow forecast in spots. That's a trend we can be happy about!

Breaking it down…

* Tuesday night will bring a few showers. There might be a dusting to a few inches of snow on the Wednesday 5 am reports.

* Wednesday will be stormy across the state. Temperatures will drop. Snow will fall intensely at times, with 3-6+ inches through the day. For snow-weather nerds like us, Wednesday’s weather will be super fun to watch. In terms of snow quality, it’s likely that we will see conditions improve through the day, so the midday and afternoon hours will ski better than the morning.

* Wednesday afternoon and night is looking better in terms of snowfall. I think we’ll see plenty of additional accumulation after lifts close on Wednesday afternoon, with another 3-6+ inches of snow.

* Thursday morning will likely offer the deepest and softest powder thanks to the snow on Wednesday night, which will fall on top of the snow that accumulated on Wednesday-day. Also, snow showers should continue through the day on Thursday, and I am hoping that the combination of clouds from these showers and cold air will keep the powder from becoming too heavy, which can happen with the high sun angle of April, even when there are some clouds around.

* I think that the most snow will fall near the northern divide (Eldora, Indian Peaks, Berthoud Pass, Winter Park, Loveland) and also around the northern San Juans (Telluride, which is closed, and Silverton, which is open). The wind direction later Wednesday and Wednesday night will be from the north-northwest, north, or even north-northeast, and these directions favor the mountains I just mentioned. Breckenridge sometimes does well with a wind from the north-northwest, but I have lower confidence in this.

The CAIC-WRF 2km model highlights the areas I just mentioned, with up to 15 inches around Berthoud Pass and the northern San Juans (in southwestern Colorado).

To recap, Wednesday is the storm day with better skiing in the midday and afternoon, and Thursday morning should be the time with the deepest and softest powder.

Extended Forecast

We’ll probably have dry weather later Thursday through Friday afternoon.

Then a southern storm should bring snow to the southern and eastern mountains on Friday night and Saturday with 2-8+ inches. Wolf Creek and Purgatory (in the far southern mountains) will be open on weekends, so Saturday could be a good call for those mountains.

The next break in the weather will be on Sunday and Monday.

Then I am happy to say that the latest models show the chance for a strong storm between April 16-18, so with some luck, we’ll have a chance to snag another April powder day.

After that, we’ll likely continue to see chances for storms through late April, though I have no confidence about the details of any of these systems.

While I typically distrust forecasts beyond 10-15 days, I do want to show these 6-week forecasts, out to May 22nd. There is a very strong signal, from multiple models, that Colorado will be in a region of colder-than-average temperatures and above-average precipitation.

If these forecasts hold, expect more powder days and a slower melt-out through at least mid-May. Of course, we’ll also have our share of sunny, warm spring weather, but this signal toward cool and wet/snowy weather is something that we should not ignore.

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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