Summary
On Friday, most mountains saw showers throughout the day and early evening with 2-4 inches of accumulation. Saturday’s weather will be drier with just a couple of showers and some sunshine. We’ll have a return to more showers on Sunday and Sunday night with 1-4 inches of accumulation. Then Monday through Wednesday will be dry with sunshine and warm temperatures. The end of next week will bring a storm which should drop temperatures and snow on Thursday and Friday (March 28-29).
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Short Term Forecast
Recap: Friday & Friday Night
Friday’s weather was a mix of everything, with some sunshine and also times of intense snow showers. The showers dissipated by late on Friday evening
Saturday
The 24-hour snow report from Friday morning through Saturday morning is 2-4 inches for the majority of mountains, thanks to the snow showers on Friday and Friday evening.
The outliers are Powderhorn with 7 inches, thanks to a period of intense snow on Friday morning, and also Irwin with 7 inches during the day on Friday (Irwin is a cat ski operation west of Crested Butte).
The water vapor satellite animation on Saturday morning shows that the storm from Friday is now strengthening and spinning over eastern Colorado and western Kansas.
This storm position is creating intense snow over Colorado’s eastern plains but is likely too far to the east to bring much snow to our mountains. Expect just a few snow showers here and there on Saturday, with a slightly better chance for accumulating snow over the mountains north of I-70 and along the continental divide due to wrap-around moisture from this eastern storm.
Saturday Night – Sunday Night
Saturday night should be dry, then we’ll see a weak storm move across northern Colorado which should bring showers on Sunday and Sunday night. If there is any trend in the model forecasts for this storm, it is for the system to weaken and track farther north. Snow accumulations on Sunday and Sunday night should be light, just a few inches, if that.
The forecast for total snowfall from Saturday through Sunday night is just a scattering of a few inches across the state.
Extended Forecast
Monday 3/26 – Wednesday 3/27
Following any lingering showers on Monday morning, we’ll see dry weather on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Tuesday and Wednesday will be warm (highs in the 40s) and the winds should become gusty on Tuesday Wednesday ahead of the next storm.
Thursday 3/28 – Friday 3/29
All models have shown and continue to show a reasonably strong storm for later in the week. The chances for snow on Thursday and Friday are high, though it’s still too early to know if any of Colorado’s mountains will see significant snow totals. Keep your eye on Friday for the best powder potential.
Thanks for reading!
My next update will be on Sunday morning.
JOEL GRATZ
Announcements
Geography Key
Northern Mountains
Steamboat, Granby, Beaver Creek, Vail, Ski Cooper, Copper, Breckenridge, Keystone, Loveland, Abasin, Winter Park, Berthoud Pass, Eldora, Rocky Mountain National Park, Cameron Pass
Along the Divide
Loveland, Arapahoe Basin, Winter Park, Berthoud Pass
East of the Divide
Eldora, Echo, Rocky Mountain National Park, Cameron Pass
Central Mountains
Aspen, Sunlight, Monarch, Crested Butte, Irwin, Powderhorn
Southern Mountains
Telluride, Silverton – north side of the southern mountains | Purgatory, Wolf Creek – south side of the southern mountains
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