SNOW! Yes, I said it. SNOW! SNOW! SNOW! It's going to SNOW! Yaaahhhooo! Ok, so I'm not promising Snowmaggedeon Part 2, but there is a good likelihood of snow on Monday and the pattern *could* shift to a snowier one by the second week of December. This is a lot more optimism than I've had for a while, so while I'll try not to get carried away, right now I'm happier than a witch in a broom factory.

A big west-coast storm will pump tons of moisture from Tahoe northward and northeast from Wednesday (today) through Sunday. Areas in the path of this moisture will measure the snow in feet, but snow levels will stay pretty high through Sunday, so the snow will be on the heavier side and lower elevation resorts in the west will see a rain/snow mix. Little pieces of storm energy will eject out of the main storm over the west coast and head northeastward, but these will just brush Colorado. One of these little pieces of energy will bring an inch or two of snow to Colorado on Friday night in the far northern mountains, but this is nothing to get excited about.

The strongest piece of the main west-coast storm will head east on Sunday night and Monday and should bring decent snow to many Colorado mountains, primarily from Aspen north to I-70 and the Wyoming border. The best time for snow looks to be from Sunday night through Monday night, with the cold front passing late Sunday night or Monday morning. It's a bit too early to know exact snow amounts and I think the American GFS model is forecasting the storm to be too strong and too far south, so I don't expect to see the amounts the GFS is promising. But as I said yesterday, a good 2-4 or 3-6 inch snow is likely, and there could be more in favored areas. Here's what the storm looks like on Sunday night:

After the storm passes, the rest of next week should be dry. But then the fun *might* begin by the second weekend or second week of December. The American GFS model is hinting that the pattern gets colder and snowier starting sometime between Dec 8-10th, ish. The European model isn't quite as excited about this, but is also hinting at it. I'm not wildly optimistic about a snowy middle of December, but at least the possibility exists, so it's something to hope for and look forward to. I mean, mountain biking is fun, but it's time to ski some pow, yah?

JOEL GRATZ