Summary

A few rain and snow showers will fall on Saturday morning, Monday, and during the first few days of November. But none of these storms appear significant, and temperatures will remain above average.

Short-Term Forecast

We will be stuck in the same weather pattern that we’ve seen during the last 2-3 weeks. Cool and stormy on the coasts and warmer and drier over Colorado.

The radar animation from Friday morning says it all. Lots of action to the west and east, but nothing over Colorado.

As storms hit the west coast and move inland, Colorado will be clipped with a bit of precipitation. Some showers should occur late Friday night through Saturday morning, and a few more showers will hit on Halloween. Neither of these two storms appear significant - just a dusting of snow on the higher peaks of central and northern Colorado.

Extended Outlook

Another storm will move inland during the first few days of November, so it’s possible that we’ll see light to moderate precipitation around November 3rd (+/- one day).

As for temperatures for the next 15 days, they will likely stay above average. This graphic shows the forecast low temperature at about 11,000 feet in Summit County. There is a slight cooling trend in the 10-15 day range, but temperatures are still not that far below freezing.

Snowmaking

Each storm that moves inland should bring a period of slightly cooler temperatures to Colorado, so it’s possible a few resorts will be able to blow snow for a few hours during a couple or the next 10 days, especially around Halloween and just after. But with temperatures remaining above normal through the next 10-15 days … well, it doesn’t bode well for snowmakers to develop a deep base.

I know it feels like summer out there, and you might be ready to start panicking about the upcoming ski season, but it’s a little soon for that. I’ll begin to look into the past 30-40 years of data to see how past seasons turned out after a warm start like we’re experiencing now. Stay tuned!

JOEL GRATZ

Heli-ski event at Arc’teryx in Cherry Creek on Wednesday, November 2nd

Join myself and Canadian Mountain Holidays Heli Sking at the Arc’teryx store to enjoy a few beverages, learn more about CMH’s lodges and trips from one of their guides, watch a few short films, and hear more about my trips to CMH and if I think it’ll ever stop being super warm in November:-) The event is from 6pm-8pm on Wednesday, November 2nd, at the Arc’teryx store at 250 Columbine St. Please RSVP so we can get an accurate count for seating and beverages: http://opsw.co/cmharcteryx

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