We have two more mild and mostly dry days on tap for Tuesday and Wednesday before our next storm begins to make its presence felt on Thursday. Temperatures will climb into the 40s under partly sunny skies, with only a slight chance for an afternoon or evening shower. 

Increasing winds and cloud cover will be the story as we head into Thursday. The exact timing for our first flakes still needs to be worked out but I'm leaning toward Thursday afternoon/evening.

The snow machine will then crank up on Thursday night, with moderate to heavy snow continuing through early Friday afternoon. There's now fairly good agreement that areas along and east of the Continental Divide will be favored for the deepest totals but all locations along the mountain corridor should receive at least 4-8 inches. 

The graphic above is the latest ensemble snow forecast for Vail Pass. The ensemble members are still ranging from 5-20 inches through Friday so look for further updates on Wednesday and Thursday morning. 

For travel, all road surfaces from Vail through the foothills west of Denver will turn over to an icy and snow-packed mix on Thursday night and into Friday morning. Snow levels look like they'll hover around 7,000 feet, which would keep most areas along the Front Range free of snow but still receive healthy amounts of liquid precipitation. If you have travel plans on Friday, keep a close eye on CDOT as this type of storm can wreak havoc on the road surfaces, especially when leaving the Front Range. 

The second half of Friday and most of Saturday should then provide a return to sunny skies and dry conditions. This will be followed by another system for Saturday night through Sunday. This storm will likely have an impact on travel for Sunday. 

Looking further ahead, all indications are pointing toward an active storm track for the final week of March and into early April. We'll take it one storm at a time so stay tuned for the latest information. 

SAM COLLENTINE

You can always find the specific snow forecast for every I-70 resort, including webcams and snow reports here: https://opensnow.com/region/denveri70