Colorado Daily Snow

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

By Sam Collentine, Meteorologist Posted 7 years ago March 24, 2017

White morning

Summary

Lingering showers through Friday morning before dry conditions settle in from Friday afternoon through midday Saturday. The first of three storms for the final week of March takes aim for Colorado from Saturday night through Sunday evening. Storm #2 moves through from Monday evening through Wednesday. Storm #3 will be on the docket for Thursday/Friday through next weekend, April 1st and 2nd.

Short Term Forecast

Thursday night delivered BIG totals for some and little to nothing for others. The big totals are coming out of the northern San Juan, where Silverton is reporting 20" and Telluride is reporting 19" over the past 24 hours. 

Here's a look at Telluride's pow cam on Thursday night before it became completely buried. I must mention that the cam was cleared at 4 pm on Thursday afternoon. 

Looking back through last night's model runs and observations, the northern San Juan was in the sweet spot for just enough wrap-around moisture, with west-northwest to northwest flow as the storm strengthened and pushed into southeastern Colorado on Friday morning. We'll take it!

Our forecast called for 3-6 inches and after looking at our Powder Finder and Colorado resort page, the majority of locations verified. 

 

Powder Report: https://opensnow.com/state/CO/reports

Thursday night's storm is quickly wrapping up over southeastern Colorado but heavy snow and rain continues to pound areas along the Front Range and eastern Colorado. 

Friday morning will feature lingering showers but any activity will quickly end from west to east by midday Friday. Clear skies prevail for Friday night and into Saturday morning.

The first half of Saturday will feature mostly sunny skies and dry conditions before increasing cloud cover signals our next storm by Saturday afternoon. 

The southern mountains should see their first flakes begin to fly by late Saturday afternoon or during the early evening hours. The storm will then begin to shift the focus to the central and northern mountains on Saturday night and into Sunday. In general, most locations should be looking at 2-5 inches from Saturday night through Sunday, with the primary focus being on central and northern Colorado. Soft Sunday turns? You bet!

Extended Forecast

After our late weekend fun, Sunday night through Monday afternoon will be mostly clear and dry. Our attention will then shift to Monday night through Wednesday for another decent looking storm to push into the West. The details are still vague but early indications are for lighter amounts on Monday night before the storm strengthens and delivers heavier snow on Tuesday and into Tuesday night. 

The graphic above is the latest ensemble snow forecast for Vail Pass, courtesy of the University of Utah. The first arrow on the left is Thursday night's storm, the middle arrow is Saturday night's storm, and the final arrow on the right is the Monday night through Wednesday storm. Not bad!

After the Monday night through Wednesday system, will have our eyes on late next week and into next weekend, April 1st and 2nd, for another chance for snow. 

Overall, it's great to see the high and dry pattern behind us and the snow machine cranking back up for Colorado!

Thanks for reading and have a great Friday!

SAM COLLENTINE

Announcements

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, Echo, Rocky Mountain National Park, Cameron Pass

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

Southern Mountains
Telluride, Silverton – north side of the southern mountains | Purgatory, Wolf Creek – south side of the southern mountains

About Our Forecaster

Sam Collentine

Meteorologist

Sam Collentine is the Chief Operating Officer of OpenSnow and lives in Basalt, Colorado. Before joining OpenSnow, he studied Atmospheric Science at the University of Colorado, spent time at Channel 7 News in Denver, and at the National Weather Service in Boulder.

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