Colorado Daily Snow

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

By Joel Gratz, Founding Meteorologist Posted 6 years ago April 18, 2017

Storms return, powder possible

Update

What is that in the sky on this Tuesday morning?

Clouds!

Yes, a few high-level and medium-level clouds are drifting across Colorado today, which is a change from the clear skies we’ve seen during most of the past 7 days.

These clouds signal an approaching storm that should bring light snow to the northern mountains from about midnight Tuesday night through midday Wednesday. Areas near and north of I-70 could receive 1-3 inches, and the best chance of accumulating snow will be above 10,000 feet with rain drops below this elevation.

Wednesday afternoon through Thursday afternoon should be dry for most mountains.

Then the next storm will bring a chance for snow over the north-eastern continental divide on Thursday evening, with all central and northern mountains likely seeing snow from Thursday night through Friday night.

This storm on Friday will be colder than the Wednesday system, so expect snow to fall down to perhaps 7,000-8,000 feet. The deepest snow will be possible at Vail, Breckenridge, Loveland, Abasin, Winter Park, Berthoud Pass, and Cameron Pass. These areas are in the north/east mountains.

The best time to find powder will likely be on Friday, and maybe on Saturday morning as well. This storm will be strengthening as it moves over and east of Colorado, and this strengthening often leads to some snowfall surprises (both on the high side and low side). So keep your eye on the snow stakes in the northern mountains, and be ready to take advantage of the new snow. To keep expectations in check, I think we should expect 3-6 inches from this storm over 9,000 feet, though some areas could see more.

After this storm, we should see dry weather on Saturday evening and Sunday, with a few showers possible on Sunday night into Monday.

Looking ahead to next week, all models show a rather storm strong around April 26-27, so that’ll be the next one to watch for at Abasin, Loveland, and Winter Park, which will be the only mountains open during that time.

Thanks for reading!

JOEL GRATZ

About Our Forecaster

Joel Gratz

Founding Meteorologist

Joel Gratz is the Founding Meteorologist of OpenSnow and has lived in Boulder, Colorado since 2003. Before moving to Colorado, he spent his childhood as a (not very fast) ski racer in eastern Pennsylvania.

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