Colorado Daily Snow

Heads up, there may be fresher snow! Read the latest Colorado Daily Snow

By Joel Gratz, Founding Meteorologist Posted 9 years ago November 17, 2014

More snow this weekend into Turkey week

Summary:

  • Weak storm Thursday, little snow
  • A few inches Friday night through Saturday
  • Stronger storm Saturday night, powder day Sunday?
  • Northwest flow next Monday and Tuesday (!)

 

Details:

One week ago we were lamenting the slow start to the season. We were cautiously optimistic for a cold front coming through. And we were hopeful to perhaps get 12+ inches out of the coming week.

Well, holy moly, things certainly turned out pretty well. The storms lined up nearly perfectly last week with about 20-35 inches falling for most of Colorado, with 40-50 inches for some mountains along the I-70 corridor.

Now after the storm cycle, most of the state sits between 75-95% of average snow for this date. And I think that might be a bit misleading because the map actually shows the snow-water equivalent (SWE, or how much water you'd measure if you melted the snow). Since some of last-week's snow was lighter and fluffier than normal for this time of year (ie. low SWE), we might be ahead of average in terms of number of inches of snow that fell.

colorado snow report
The punchline for the next 7-10 days is that I think we'll see multiple additional storms and most of the state has a good chance to be at or above average snowfall by the time we hit Thanksgiving. I still can't believe I'm writing that as the statistics were not on our side after a mostly dry first 9 days of the month.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday will be dry and warmer each day (currently around 0F on Monday morning). The mountains along and north of I-70 might see a few light snow showers / flurries on Monday and Tuesday as weak storms pass to the northeast of Colorado.

Thursday won't be a big deal. The storm that will pass by on this day will be very week. Maybe we'll see an inch or two of snow for most mountains, though I have low confidence in this.

Friday night through Saturday becomes a bit more interesting as a slightly stronger storm pushes decent moisture into the state. I could see a few inches accumulating for most mountains during this time.

Saturday night into Sunday will offer the best chance for heavy snow as a stronger storm pushes through. It's still six days out, but Sunday has the look of a powder day. Stay tuned for updates. Significant accumulations could fall on most mountains, perhaps with the exception of the southern San Juans.

From Sunday night through next Tuesday a flow from the northwest looks very likely. This would keep snow in the forecast for Telluride/Silverton down south, potentially Irwin, Monarch, and the Aspen area in central Colorado, and along I-70 and north to Steamboat in northern Colorado. Northwest flow typically favors the I-70 areas up to Steamboat and Cameron Pass. With more terrain opening and a few days of consistent snow, early next week might be verrry interesting.

JOEL GRATZ

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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