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 October 13, 2014

Pretty pictures and a dry forecast

Summary:

The webcams show that 5-7 inches was about the right forecast for yesterday's storm. There will be lingering clouds on Monday morning and Monday will be a chilly day. Otherwise, look for dry, sunny, and warmer weather for Tuesday through at least early next week. The next chance of a significant storm will wait until about the last 4-6 days of October.

Details:

The cold front hit northern and central Colorado on Sunday morning and produced a 30-60 minute period of heavy snow with almost no visibility. This initial band dropped a quick 3-4 inches and also closed I-70 over Vail Pass for a while. I mentioned this possible closure in yesterday's post because it appears that the biggest issue for I-70 is quick-hitting snow bands that drop visibility. I don't know what the solution is as it doesn't seem practical to shut the road down for 15 minutes in advance of a snow band like this, but that's probably what should happen. Hmmm.

After that first band went through, off-and-on snow showers dropped a few more inches during the afternoon and through about midnight. If this were winter, I would say that enough snow fell after lifts closed on Sunday to make Monday morning a soft/powdery time to hit first chair.

Total accumulations ranged from just a few flakes in the San Juans to a few inches around central Colorado (Crested Butte to Aspen) to about 5-7 inches for most areas along and north of I-70. The highest total was about 9 inches on the Breckenridge snow stake. All of the cams below are available on OpenSnow.com and are fed from the resorts. I'm glad so many mountains have adopted snow stake cams over the last few years, and we offer timelapse views of the cams so that you can see the snow piling up (some mountains have timelapse on their sites as well).

breckenridge snow stake

vail snow stake

steamboat snow stake

loveland snow stake

keystone snow stake

Looking ahead, today, Monday, will clear out after lingering morning clouds. Temperatures will stay chilly during the day, but warm up on Tuesday and beyond. The storm track will stay well to our north over Washington and British Columbia, and also well to our east. That will result in dry weather for Colorado over the next week.

precipitation forecast
Source: NOAA

The only "action" I see for the next 7-10 days will be stronger winds on Wednesday, some mid to high-level clouds on Wednesday and Thursday, and perhaps a few more clouds and a random shower next weekend.

For the next significant storm, we'll need to wait for the storminess over the northern Pacific Ocean to push east into the US. I do not see signs of this happening in any of the models (American GFS, Canadian GEM, European ECMWF) for at least the next 10 days, and perhaps not through 15 days. The trough over the Pacific will come inland eventually, but right now I'd count on a tranquil weather pattern through most of the rest of the month with potential storminess after about October 25th.

As for snowmaking conditions, they will be pretty good Monday night into Tuesday morning, but after that overnight temperatures will struggle to get below freezing for elevations below 11,000ft. The dry weather (low humidity) allows snowmaking to take place even with marginal temperatures, but the key point is that snowmaking conditions won't be ideal after Tuesday morning. 

The atmosphere giveth and the atmosphere taketh. So take what it gives you and enjoy another week or two of activities that don't involve sliding on snow. Those days will be here soon enough.

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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