Summary:

• Tuesday will likely be the driest day of the week
• Afternoon showers return Wednesday through Sunday
• Next week looks warmer and drier

Details:

Monday's weather was typical of what you'll see for most of the upcoming week. The day started on the dry side with partly sunny skies, then clouds increased during the afternoon and evening with numerous snow showers, some of them on the heavier side. These showers produced 3-4 inches at Abasin and Loveland during the course of the afternoon and evening, so snow conditions are still fresh! In fact, these ski areas have recorded snow for each of the last 6-7 days, which is a great stretch. I'd take that in winter, let alone toward the end of April!

Today, Tuesday, will likely be the driest day of the week. There is still a chance for a few afternoon and evening showers, but chances are much lower than on Monday.

On Wednesday, the chance of afternoon snow showers will increase yet again, and based on temperature trends, the best chance for accumulating snowfall will be at and above about 10,000 feet.

From Thursday into Friday, a week storm will move across south-eastern Colorado. This could focus an area of heavier snow in the region near and south of I-70, perhaps sometime Thursday afternoon through Friday morning. That said, I don't have a lot of confidence about exactly where the heavier snow will set up, so I kept snow showers in the forecast for all mountains and nudged up accumulations in some central and southern mountains during this time.

You can see the Thursday/Friday storm on this morning's infrared satellite image. It is the swirl of clouds west of southern California. 

 

Looking ahead to the weekend, I know a lot of you are looking to do some mountaineering and backcountry skiing (myself included!), though I am afraid that I cannot call great weather for either Saturday or Sunday. Both days look like they will bring lots of midday and afternoon showers. A weak system might swing through northern Colorado sometime Saturday night Sunday, which could increase our chances of accumulating snowfall. This forecast shouldn't discourage you from skiing / hiking this weekend, but you'll want to keep an eye on the forecast updates during the next couple of days to see if one of the weekend days will offer better weather than the other.

Finally, it looks like the snowy / showery weather will come to an end on Sunday night, and most of next week should be dry. There is still a chance for a storm around April 30th-ish, though this storm is trending weaker with each new model run.

Have a great Tuesday, and see you back here tomorrow!

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, Abasin, Winter Park, Berthoud Pass

East of the Divide
Eldora, Rocky Mountain National Park, Cameron Pass

Central Mountains
Aspen, Sunlight, Monarch, Crested Butte, Irwin, Powderhorn

Southern Mountains
Telluride, Silverton, Durango, Wolf Creek (Telluride and Silverton are on the northern side of the southern mountains)