Sunday was a mixed day with sunshine and warm weather in the morning, followed by snow showers and a few inches of accumulation during the middle of the day and afternoon. The higher-elevation northern mountains had 1-3 inches of accumulation on their snow stake cams.

On Sunday night, most of the clouds pushed to the east and the moonlight illumination was once again stunning. This is an image from a high-elevation camera operated by Summit Public Radio looking west toward the town and ski area of Breckenridge. The light is provided by the moon!

Now on Monday morning, most ski areas are under sunny skies and there is a bank of low clouds along the eastern flank of the continental divide.

The summit of Pikes Peak is just above these low clouds with a beautiful view of the rising sun in the east.

And Loveland Ski Area’s summit cam captured this AWESOME scene just after sunrise, as low clouds pushed up the valley from the east, ending around the base of the mountain.

For the weather on Monday, expect a day similar to Sunday with a dry start, followed by more afternoon clouds and showers through the evening. The best chance of (possibly heavy) high-elevation snow will be near and just east of the continental divide. The snow forecast below is from the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh model. It gives a reasonable idea of what to expect, but with showery systems like this one, my confidence is low when it comes to exact snow totals.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday should be dry.

Then from Friday through next week (late April into early May), we’ll likely have a chance for showers most days though temperatures will NOT be very cold so any snowfall should be limited to the higher elevations near or above 10,000 feet.

I will post again on Tuesday and Wednesday morning, then that will be a wrap for my writing this season. If a significant storm does head toward Colorado in early May, I will post an update.

Even though my daily writing will stop soon, the hourly and 10-day forecasts for each mountain will continue to be updated every day, so of course, feel free to use our OpenSnow website and app for your spring skiing adventures!

And as we transition into hiking, please check out OpenSummit.com which is our summer app that has precipitation, lightning, temperature, and wind forecasts for the 1,000 highest and most notable mountains around the country. Right now, OpenSummit is only an iPhone app and we are working to make it a website and an Android app by late spring or early summer.

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