Colorado Daily Snow

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

By Joel Gratz, Founding Meteorologist Posted 9 years ago April 12, 2014

Summary:

A few snow and rain showers on Saturday and Saturday night, then the main snowstorm will hit between about 7am to 7pm on Sunday. Eldora and other areas just east of the divide will see 10-14", along the divide (Abasin, Loveland, Winter Park) should see about 10 inches, mountains west of the divide should measure 6-10", and the plains east of the divide will see 6" near the foothills to just a few inches further east. The best powder will be last run Sunday or first run Monday with at least a few inches falling after lifts close on Sunday. Monday and Tuesday will be dry, snow is likely Wednesday and Thursday, and then Friday through next weekend should be dry (though there could be a few showers around).

Details:

During the day today (Saturday), there will be a few rain and snow showers that pop up in the afternoon. I don't expect any widespread accumulations, but the some mountains could get dusted.

Our snowstorm on Sunday is currently over the Pacific Northwest. This satellite image shows the storm as the black "dip" over Washington, moving toward the southeast.

colorado snow

Saturday morning water vapor satellite image showing the storm (black dip over Washington State) moving southeast toward Colorado. This storm will produce our snow on Sunday. Source: Weathertap.com

For the mountains along and east of the divide (Eldora, Winter Park, Loveland, Abasin), the snow will start falling heavily by mid-to-late Sunday morning, if not earlier. Snow will continue through most of the day, and then begin to taper off in the evening. Sunday should be a great powder day, and if your mountain is open on Monday, I'd vote for first tracks on Monday as well with a few inches falling after lifts close on Sunday. Total accumulations could be about 10 inches along the divide with 14" (or more?) in the higher foothills east of the divide.

For the mountains west of the divide (most of the ski areas are west of the divide), the heaviest snow might not start until late morning or midday. Then snow should fall moderately to heavily through the afternoon and continue through late Sunday evening before winding down by midnight-ish. Most locations will see 6-10 inches, so Sunday last run and Monday first run will be fun.

Despite the recent warm temperatures, all roads above 6,000-7,000 feet will likely become slush or snow covered when the heavier snow hits, so expect a slower drive on Sunday afternoon.

Click here to see my snow forecast for each mountain: http://opsw.co/CO1-5

colorado snow

The American NAM model shows about one inch of liquid equivalent precipitation during the storm for many mountains. I'm estimating a snowfall ratio of 12 inches of snow to 1 inch of liquid, and then lowered total amounts a bit west of the divide and increased them a bit east of the divide to account for past experience of how these storms usually work out (although, of course, every storm is different!). Source: CAIC

Monday morning will be chilly, but should be dry with blue skies, and Tuesday should be dry as well.

Another storm should hit on Wednesday and Thursday, but there is no agreement between the models. The European model shows a much weaker system, while other models dump 12+ inches over most mountains. If things come together, Thursday might be a powder day, but I have very low confidence in this right now. Stay tuned.

Long Range:

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday look dry, but I can't rule out a few showers or a quick-moving storm that brings a bit of snow, wind, and cooler weather sometime during these days. Hopefully we'll be able to lock-in the weekend forecast by next Tuesday or so.

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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