Update on Tuesday, May 9 ... scroll down ...

---

Good Monday morning, folks!

It’s May 1st, it’s still snowing, but the pow is winding down so this is going to be my last post for a while. If and when we see another significant storm here in Colorado, I will write another update.

It’s still snowing!

It has snowed nearly every day since April 20th in the northern mountains, and the atmosphere took only a short break on Sunday before bringing more snow back to the northern mountains on Sunday evening. Abasin and Loveland both reported 2 inches on Sunday night, which brings their total snowfall to 35-43” between April 20 - May 1.

Snow showers will continue on Monday, May 1st, take a break on Monday night into Tuesday morning, then another wave will bring 2-4 inches from Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday morning. You might be able to ski pow on Wednesday morning if you get the snow before the sun bakes it to mashed potatoes.

After this storm, Wednesday afternoon, Thursday, and Friday should be dry.

Then a storm will hang out to the southwest of Colorado between May 5-12, and this storm should bring afternoon showers on May 5-8 and perhaps steadier snow sometime between May 9-12.

Inspiring pics!

It’s not unusual for us to enjoy powder in Colorado during April and May, but this is also a time that the snowpack often stabilizes, which allows for folks to ski bigger lines.

Below are two pictures of Sven Brunso climbing and skiing the Gnar Couloir on Storm Peak (elevation 13,487 feet) in the San Juan mountains of southwestern Colorado. Photos by Grady James.

Now is a wonderful time to get into the high alpine and enjoy continued skiing through May and June, just be mindful of continued avalanche risk, mostly from wet slides as the snowpack warms up each day. The Colorado Avalanche Information Center will continue to issue forecasts a few days per week through the end of May.

Lost board!

An OpenSnow fan emailed me in hopes that I would post the following and help him find his stolen board.

“I was riding up at Winter Park on Thursday, April 29, and someone took my snowboard from the rack outside the lodge at the base. It is a 156cm Salomon Sick Stick with black Salomon bindings. If anyone has any info, they can email me with no questions asked at [email protected]”

Here is a picture of the board. I hope our community can come together and track down this gear!

OpenSummit!

If you’re planning to hike/ski any of Colorado’s 14,000 foot mountains this spring, summer, and fall, we made an app just for you!

Find hourly forecasts for lightning (the biggest danger), precipitation, temperature, and wind for all 14ers in our free iPhone app. Download it here and let me know what you think! http://www.opsw.co/OpenSummitapp

Farewell for now!

I hope you’ve had a great season! I am going to take some time off from writing and will post another update if and when a bigger storm returns to Colorado, likely around May 10th.

Update on Tuesday, May 9: There have been daily storms for the past few days, and these will continue through Wednesday night, May 10. Some of the storms over the plains have been severe with hail damage in western Denver. In the mountains, the snow level has been high, around 11,000-12,000 feet, so only the highest peaks are receiving snow. And it looks like showery weather should return again next week. Aside from the hail and danger from lightning, this moisture is great for us here in Colorado! I likely will not write another update until August, so farewell for now:-)

Thanks so much for reading the Colorado Daily Snow!

JOEL GRATZ