On Friday, the northern mountains saw clouds and snow showers hang around. Accumulations were light to none except for Steamboat where three inches accumulated early on Friday morning and this brought their storm total to 17 inches.

On Saturday, all of Colorado will see mostly sunny skies as the moisture from the previous storm will finally head to the east. Temperatures should be comfortable with highs in the low 30s.

Our snowpack is doing well at 120% of the median for January 3, 2020.

The best news about our snowpack is that it’s above average for the entire state. Every river basin is reporting similar numbers. Many years, the weather pattern favors a certain area (eg. the northern mountains) but so far this season the atmosphere has contributed an equal amount of snow across the state.

Looking ahead, on Saturday night, a weak system will move across the northern mountains. The only noticeable change in the weather should be a few more clouds, a few snow showers, and a bit cooler air.

On Sunday, look for another dry day with partly cloudy skies and temperatures topping out in the upper 20s to low 30s.

From Sunday evening through Monday evening, the next storm will bring snow primarily to the northern mountains. Based on the latest model guidance, I’ll keep my forecast to 2-5 inches with maybe up to 7 inches for a few spots. These low numbers reflect the storm’s limited moisture. With snow falling on Sunday night, there should be some soft turns on Monday morning, and snow showers during the day on Monday should keep conditions on the softer side. The CAIC WRF 2km model:

The University of Utah multi-model ensemble (below) is in reasonable agreement with the CAIC WRF 2km model (above):

Following dry weather on Tuesday and Wednesday, the next storm should bring snow on Thursday, January 9th. All of the latest models are now showing that this storm will split, with some energy tracking north of Colorado and some energy tracking through southern Colorado or staying to the south of Colorado. It’s still too soon to offer an initial snow forecast, though with a splitting storm I am keeping my expectations low. Maybe a few areas of the state will wind up with moderate snow totals if the southern portion of the storm can push more moisture into Colorado.

Peering out just over one week into the future, the period from Sunday, January 12 through Sunday, January 19 should bring two or three storms close to or over Colorado. It will be an active week across the west, and with luck, we’ll see significant snowfall here in Colorado. If we're unlucky, storms could track north or south of Colorado. Stay tuned. Let's hope this active pattern translates into a week full of powder.

Thanks for reading!

My next update will be on Sunday morning.

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