Summary

Some central and northern mountains saw another foot of snow from late Monday afternoon through Monday night, so Tuesday morning should be a great day for these areas and locations east of the divide where the snow cranked up on Monday night. The snowfall will generally will be weaker on Tuesday through Wednesday though some areas could still see healthy additional totals. Thursday should offer a brief break in the snow, then the flakes will return from Thursday afternoon through Friday and again from Sunday through next Tuesday.

 

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Details

The snow totals have been impressive and variable during the day on Monday and on Monday night. The center of the storm passed directly over the middle of Colorado. This meant that some areas under the center of the storm and just to the north saw incredibly heavy snowfall while other areas saw much less.

The deepest snow accumulated in the southern mountains on Monday morning with storm totals around 2-3 FEET for these areas.

Then on Monday midday through Monday evening, the heaviest snow fell in the central mountains and the western part of the northern mountains. The highest 24-hour reports in this area are in the 12-18 inch range, but this heavy snow was localized from about Crested Butte to Aspen to Powderhorn to Beaver Creek and Vail.

The snowfall rates at Aspen were amazing on Monday late afternoon, averaging about 2 inches per hour based on an automated snowfall sensor located at the top of Aspen Mountain. Even if this sensor was reading too high, the snowfall was still impressive!

Source: Aspen / Snowmass

 

To see all of the 24-hour snow reports for Colorado, check this page:
http://opensnow.com/state/CO/reports

 

To see the five-day snow report history for Colorado, go here:
http://opensnow.com/state/CO/history

 

For the rest of Tuesday, we will be under a cold north and northwest flow with decreasing moisture. This should mean that additional snowfall will favor Powderhorn, Telluride, and Silverton, which can do well with north flow combined with additional energy moving over the state on the backside of the storm.

From Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday afternoon, the winds should blow more from the northwest rather than north, and the energy on the backside of the storm should move a bit further east, so I think we should see the snow pick up for areas like Steamboat, Vail, Monarch, and perhaps Summit County.

I do not think the snow reports on Wednesday morning will be as impressive as they are now on Tuesday morning, but any additional snow will maintain the good conditions.

From Wednesday evening through midday Thursday we should see dry weather, then a weak storm could bring anything from flurries to a couple of inches from Thursday afternoon through midday Friday.

Following this weak system, Saturday will be dry, then we’ll see a series of weak storms stream across Colorado from the north on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Snow amounts likely will not be large during any one 24-hour period, but in total they could add up to some fun.

After this storm cycle, we should dry out starting on Wednesday 2/10 and the quiet weather should last at least 3-5 days. Looking at the long-range models, after potentially quiet weather around the middle of February, the second half of February should offer more storms and good times.

The snowpack across the state is above average and most areas have seen 1-3 feet of snow in the last three days. Pretty good news, eh? Go get some powder!

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, 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)