It's both a sad and exciting day for me as I wind down the sometimes sleepless nights of posting powder for the entire OpenSnow community. I look forward to having some time off. Before you know it, Chase Pow will be back with what appears to be a La Nina pattern change (Cooler and wetter favoring the PNW and northern Rockies) next season.  This will be my final post of the season. I will highlight by epic chases below. 

In the short term, a pesky low spinning to the north of Colorado is bringing snow showers to the Front Range Foothills on Friday morning. We picked up nearly an inch of new snow at my weather office in Boulder. Snow will decrease on Friday and intensify overnight into Saturday. 

Below: 4 inches of overnight snow for Loveland on Friday morning. More snow from Friday PM to Saturday AM. 

I have high confidence of 5-9 inches of new snow by mid-morning Saturday with a bit lower confidence on which resort sees the higher amounts. Winds are predominantly SE, and S, with some shorter periods of NE eventually veering NW after most of the moisture is east of the mountain ranges. Southerly flow can sometimes sneak into southern Summit County near Breckenridge. I get a bit worried with southerly winds. 

Below: European model showing.68 inches of moisture which at 10:1 would be in the 6-8 inch range by Saturday. This would favor the Divide resorts, especially Loveland Pass extending north to Berthoud or Winter Park. Eldora is also in the hunt, with Breck and AB a solid wildcard. NW winds on the backside of this system will also bring light or moderate snow further west from Summit County to Vail Pass albeit lower totals. 

Below: The American GFS is more bullish with upwards of an inch of water on the Divide, also favoring areas from I-70 north. The system stretches west into Summit County and to Vail Pass with lower totals. This is the most bullish model currently so I have to discount it slightly. If it holds up expect 5-12 inches by Saturday (Less likely). 

Bottom Line: Snow showers increase from Friday night to Saturday mid-morning. Some resorts will grab 4-9 inches.  While the models show an emphasis on the Divide near I-70 the southerly flow noted in the wind charts could sneak out some decent numbers for Breckenridge also.

Spoiler Alert: The often higher confidence short-term HRR models show much lower numbers for the mountains Friday night keeping higher totals over the Foothills closer to the metro areas. Another experimental short-term model RRFS shows moisture over I-70 as far west as Georgetown or Loveland Pass with very little snow further west of south over Summit or even north to WP.  I would gamble on staying closer to Denver and chasing on Saturday morning based on the OS webcams. I still think 4-9 inches of new snow is possible for the ski areas closer to the Front Range. 

Below: Ensembles for the Eisenhower Tunnel showing decent consensus of an additional 5-9 inches of snow from Friday to Saturday. Snow density will be 10:1 (medium to medium dense- Good for this time of year). 

Below: Total water if you melted the current snowpack giving us a good illustration of an El Nino winter. Our season started out pushing moisture north of the Sierra as plentiful moisture was evident moving ashore and getting pushed north over a ridge.

Finally, by mid-season, the Sierra Mirracusley ended up just above normal as we approached April. Highlights in above-normal snow are illustrated from Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and areas of Colorado that finished above normal. Wyoming finished close to normal with Montana and areas of northern Idaho well below normal.

The PNW scored in Oregon but Washington came up well short. This would be expected with an El Nino Winter (Note: Colorado and Utah are not impacted significantly by either El Nino or La Nina sitting between the 2 patterns aside from the San Juan Range that normally does best with El Nino). The big winner this season is Alaska where Alyeska has seen over 730 inches of snow! (Anchorage is very close to a record).

Overall, I would say this was a good season but was plagued by long drought periods, and warming spells (Rain in the PNW) followed by extreme events. Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming seemed to be the steady freight trains that kept the goods coming at a slower but consistent pace. 

Season Recap-Photo Tour of some of my top chases of the season. 

1) Below: @powderchasersteve with multiple days in Utah with what seemed like several 8-14 inch days (Manageable by Ski Patrols) versus 2-3 footers. Ironically, this season with over 600 inches at Alta Little Cottonwood only closed a handful of times versus last season (904 inches) where it was shut down 43 times! Special thanks to the Ski Patrols in Utah that kept terrain open all season, especially Snowbird where I scored several deep runs as pictured below on Baldy. 

2) Below: @powderchasersteve via Instagram in Highlands Bowl with 15-18 inches of pure blower pow. 

3) Below: 35-inch storm totals at Mammoth on March 30th. I scored the summit opening at 2 PM (Always a gamble at Mammoth but well worth the wait). 

4) Below: Deepest dump of the season near Boulder Colorado where Ski resorts were shut down due to road closures (45-50 inches). Those at Winter Park scored country club powder. CDOT road closures were extensive. I went snowshoeing in Batasso (Waist deep) and then checked out the new ski area in Boulder at Chautauqua Park (Students took the park over).  Photo: @powderchasersteve via Instagram. Sometimes you just can't get to the ski areas. 

5) Below: Vail had 35 inches in 1 week in February where I scored country club Tuesday conditions just after Presidents Day when the crowds left. One of Vails best days of the season. 

6) Below: 45 inches in 3 days at Jackson Hole. Targhee also scored deepness. 

7) Below Steamboat had a phenomenal season with over 350 inches of powder. 

8) Below: Girdwood Alaska had deepness by mid-December and is up to 735 totals right now. I was there for a work conference and was unable to ride. AK takes the #1 slot this season in snowfall. What a season for AK! 

9) Below: The most unusual chase of my life at the summit of Sugarloaf Maine riding through a full eclipse in Totality. That chase from riding powder at Snowbird to a late flight to Boston- Drove to Portland, and up at 3:30 AM to get to the Loaf by 6:30 AM (Lots were already filling up). I missed powder that day in Utah but the full eclipse trumped everything. That was my most tiring 2 days of the season. 

10) Below: My final deep chase on April 15th with 20 inches of powder at Copper Mountain.

Photo: @powderchasersteve 

Extended: There is another storm on the horizon that could perform in the April 25-28 time period. 

The sad moment of saying goodbye to those who follow the Chase Powder Forecast. Hopefully, I will see you next season! We are going to transition to La Nina so hopefully, the PNW will do better next season and have higher odds of colder temps.  

Thanks for following! Feel free to provide any feedback on the OpenSnow email from the website.

Powderchaser Steve 

Summer Weather: How To Use OpenSnow

As the snow begins to melt and summer conditions quickly take over, remember that you can use OpenSnow as your go-to weather app during the non-winter months.

Get started by going to...

1. Favorites > Weather
2. Location > Weather
3. Maps > Weather

Switch to using your "Summer" favorites list, check the "Weather" tab on both the Favorites screen and any location screen, and avoid poor air quality & incoming storms with our summer-focused map layers in the OpenSnow app.

You can also view the hourly forecast for the next 10 days for any location on Earth in OpenSnow.

1. Go to the "Maps" tab.
2. Tap anywhere or search for a city.
3. Tap "View Forecast".

View → Summer Forecasts