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 December 14, 2017

Snow Thursday morning & Sunday morning

Summary

The Thursday morning snow reports are in the 1-6 inch range, so get out and enjoy the fresh flakes. Friday and Saturday will be dry, then we'll see another weak storm on Sunday. After that, most models forecast a few chances for snow between December 21 and the end of the month.

Short Term Forecast

On Wednesday night, a weak storm crossed Colorado from north-to-south and delivered a few inches of snow to most mountains. Here are the snow reports from Thursday at 5 am, based on official resort measurements and webcams.

Breckenridge - 6"
Keystone - 4"
Winter Park - 4"
Arapahoe Basin - 3"
Cooper - 3"
Copper - 3"
Eldora - 3"
Loveland - 3"
Beaver Creek - 2"
Snowmass - 2"
Steamboat - 2"
Vail - 2"

A few people email me each month to complain about how resorts intentionally report too little or too much snow. Well, just look at the snow stake cameras to verify, but remember, the snow stakes are only one point on a very large mountain that might span 3-5 miles end-to-end and 2,000-4,000 feet from bottom to top, so the amount of snow you see on the stake might not match the amount of snow you see when you arrive at the base or when you ski different parts of the mountain.

The mountains with the top three snow reports do have snow stake cameras, and here they are.

Breckenridge:

Keystone:

Winter Park:

Notice that the locations of the largest snow reports are generally in the higher terrain near the divide. This storm brought winds from the north-northwest, north, and north-northeast, all directions that favor areas along the northern divide.

Get the snow while it's fresh on Thursday morning as the storm will wind down quickly. The infrared satellite image, which depicts the temperature of clouds, shows the storm moving rapidly over and away from Colorado (lower right) on Thursday morning, and by mid-morning on Thursday, some sunshine should return to most mountains.

For the rest of Thursday, expect temperatures in the teens and low 20s with a few snow showers in the northern mountains. Then Friday and Saturday should be dry with temperatures in the 30s during the day and teens at night (which will allow for more snowmaking).

Extended Forecast

The next chance for snow will be on late Saturday night and Sunday with most mountains receiving a coating to 2 inches. The latest models show this storm tracking a bit further west than previous models. This western track, from north-to-south over Utah and the western border of Colorado, is not ideal for snow for most of our mountains, but I actually like this track because it shows that the atmosphere is pushing the pattern westward a bit, and that's a good thing because, for the past two weeks, most of the action has been to our east.

After the Sunday system, I do think we'll see a stormy period in the western US between next Thursday, December 21, and the end of December. I do NOT know how exactly this stormy period will affect Colorado. Lots of snow for all mountains? Lots of snow for some mountains? Snow stays to our southwest or north? I am not sure, but at least there should be a more active pattern near Colorado.

Below is the five-day weather pattern forecast for December 15-20 from the European model. Blue colors show colder air and storminess, and red colors show warmer air and drier weather. Not a lot happening just yet.

Now for December 20-24. More action near Colorado.

And for December 24-28. Again, action near Colorado.

And below, for the same time of December 24-28, from the American GFS model, which roughly aligns with the European model above.

Folks who like to look at the models themselves might note that the forecast for December 21-28  trend toward a stalled storm that will hang out near or to the southwest of Colorado. This can often produce a lot of snow in Colorado's southern mountains (they need it!). I would urge caution before jumping to this conclusion because, a few weeks ago, the often reliable European model showed a similar setup only to reverse course and cancel the southwestern storm. So, patience. We'll figure it out. Don't get too excited just yet.

As I said yesterday, if you live here in Colorado, you will ski powder and lot more terrain this season, we'll just require some luck for this to happen within the month of December.

And if you are vacationing here in Colorado for the latter part of December, yes, do your snow dance and urge the atmosphere to deliver lots of snow, but also keep the expectations in check for your trip. There is never a guarantee for powder or a ton of open terrain in mid-to-late December, so make sure you think of activities that will augment skiing, like snowshoeing, hot springs, historical tours, etc.

Thanks for reading and check back Friday morning for an updated forecast!

JOEL GRATZ

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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

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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