Summary

We’ve seen another brief shot of winter this week with the higher elevations receiving a few inches of snow. We’ll dry out late this week and during the weekend, then two stronger and colder storms are possible early next week.

Details

We are waking up to snow across the higher elevations on Tuesday morning!

Showers on Monday evening and Monday night fell as snow above about 10,000 feet, with the best accumulations (2-3 inches) above about 11,000 feet.

We can thank a storm to our north for bringing the snow on Monday night. We essentially are receiving a glancing blow from this storm, while the heaviest precipitation and deepest snow accumulations stay well to our north, over Montana and Wyoming.

The radar image on Tuesday morning shows the heavier precipitation to our north with a few showers over Utah, Colorado, and northern New Mexico.

Here in Colorado, rain and snow showers will continue on Tuesday during the day, and also on Tuesday night. The snow level will rise perhaps 1,000 feet (ish) during the day on Tuesday, and then should drop as the sun goes down on Tuesday night. The snow level also fluctuates based on the intensity of the showers, with stronger showers lowering the snow level.

All of this means that I expect another few inches of snow above 10,000-11,000 feet on Tuesday and Tuesday night, with snow potentially accumulating down to 9,000 feet late Tuesday night as cooler air moves into Colorado on the tail end of the storm.

Most precipitation should be over by sunrise on Wednesday morning.

Then on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, Colorado will be on the edge of a very stormy pattern to our northwest. This means that most of our state will stay on the drier side, but we’ll have enough moisture and lift to give us the chance for few showers each day.

As I just mentioned, the west coast and northwest will experience a LOT of precipitation late this week through early next week as the storm track stays locked in over that area.

How much precipitation for the northwest? From now (October 11) through next Wednesday (October 19), some coastal areas of the northwest could receive 10+ inches of precipitation, which will translate into 4+ FEET of snow for the higher elevations over about 6,000 feet.

The storminess in the northwest should finally push east into the Rockies early next week.

While I have low confidence in the details, most models are showing this storminess hitting Colorado in two waves - one around Monday, October 17th and another around Wednesday, October 19th. Those dates are NOT set in stone, so the main takeaway is that after a mostly dry end of this week and weekend, we should see a chance for snow and colder air during the first half of next week. Good news:-)

And now, a few public service announcements…

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The 80's Ski Party is back - Friday, October 21st!

This is such a fun party! Your ticket includes FREE beer and FREE pizza (until it runs out) and balloon drop prizes. Grab your neon clothes and come dance the night away to your favorite 80's tunes! Event proceeds benefit First Descents, a nonprofit providing life-changing outdoor adventures for young adults impacted by cancer. More info & tickets here: http://opsw.co/2dTnx6f

Eldora added three new trails

Here is a video showing the construction and a map of the new trails: http://opsw.co/2dNkf1P

Did you know that you can get more from OpenSnow?

If you’re looking for a way to support OpenSnow and get 10-day forecasts, custom snow alerts, time-lapse webcams, and an email with the Colorado Daily Snow, consider signing up for the All-Access Pass.

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Final thought: If I had to guess about when Loveland or Abasin will open, it would likely occur later next week after next week's storms. We’ll see!

JOEL GRATZ