The Colorado Daily Snow  

Summary:

A few snow showers on Wednesday, then dry Thursday and Friday. A significant storm will bring snow Saturday night through Sunday with 10+ inches for many mountains over 9,000 feet. Snow showers could continue through Monday in northern Colorado. Sunday should be a legititate powder day, and this might be true of Monday morning as well.

Details:

An inch or two of snow fell on Tuesday night across central and northern Colorado as a moisture-starved storm moved across the Rockies. Another batch of energy will cross Colorado during the day on Wednesday and this will create additional snow showers with perhaps another inch or two of accumulation at higher elevations.

Then the storm will move away from Colorado Wednesday night, and Thursday and Friday will be dry.

The significant storm for this upcoming weekend is on track, and the models are finally becoming a bit more consistent in their forecasts. 

Saturday will likely be a windy day with a few snow showers and low accumulations, though the San Juans might see a few inches by dark.

The brunt of the storm will hit Colorado on Saturday night and Sunday. My initial thought about snow accumulations on Saturday night is that the heaviest snow, 5-8 inches, will fall from Aspen and south to the San Juans, and 3-5 inches will accumulate from I-70 and north. Then on Sunday, the reverse will happen with the northern mountains seeing more snow (6+ inches?) while the central and southern mountains see less, perhaps 2-4 inches.

Even though the accumulation forecast isn't dialed in just yet, I'm rather confident that Sunday will be a powder day, with snow falling down to 8,000 feet, and the best accumulations above 10,000 feet.

Saturday night's storm will be a powerful one as it strengthens in southeastern Colorado. Source: Twisterdata.com

On the backside of the storm, snow showers will likely continue Sunday night through Monday, so there might be back-to-back powder days at Loveland and Abasin since they'll be open daily next week. There's even a chance that snowflakes continue to fall on Monday and Monday night along the divide, with soft snow at these two mountains on Tuesday morning as well.

To sum up, Sunday should be a powder day at most mountains, with additional powder available at Loveland and Abasin on Monday.

Long Range:

Our weekend storm will move east verrrry sloowwwwwly next week, so snow showers and clouds might hang around the divide through the middle of the week. Warmer and drier weather should eventually return from the middle of next week through the first few days of May.

JOEL GRATZ

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I wrote two articles you might enjoy:

Where will the snow fall next season: http://opsw.co/RuMpRL

Two pieces of gear that changed my skiing: http://opsw.co/1lfY8fz

Summary:

Breezy on Tuesday with a few showers, then a few inches of snow on Wednesday with cooler temperatures. The next storm will bring snow to most mountains on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, with Sunday and Monday being potential powder days with double-digit snow totals. Stay tuned!

Details:

The big story today, Tuesday, will be the winds which will kick up in the afternoon and evening. They will blow from the southwest, so it's likely that they will bring in dust from Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico. A few showers might pop up later Tuesdsay into Tuesday evening, but these showers will only hit a few mountains here and there.

Tuesday morning satellite annimation showing the center of the storm swirling west of Seatle in the upper-left part of the image. Source: Weathertap.com

A cold front will move across Colorado on Wednesday morning, and the colder air behind the front will support midday and afternoon snow showers with a few inches of accumulation.

Then Wednesday night, Thursday, and Friday will be dry with the real fun arriving over the weekend.

Long Range:

I'm confident that we'll see a slow-moving storm this weekend with snow falling above 8,000 feet on Saturday, Sunday, and potentially into Monday as well. Sunday and Monday could be powder days at the resorts that are still spinning lifts, so you might want to trade your bikes for your skis or snowboard. Storm totals could be 10+ inches.

I'm not confident of the timing and location of the heaviest snow. When storms slow down and take a wobbly path, they are much harder to predict than when they move quickly along a more direct path. I don't think the forecast models will come into agreement until Wednesday afternoon or Thursday, so check back for updates as I'll be posting daily through the week.

JOEL GRATZ

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I wrote two articles you might find interesting:

Where will the snow fall next season: http://opsw.co/RuMpRL

Two pieces of gear that changed my skiing: http://opsw.co/1lfY8fz

Summary:

A cold front will bring a few inches of snow to most mountains on Wednesday. Then a colder and more significant storm will bring snow Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Watch out for some late-season powder days!

Details:

Monday will be dry, then winds will increase on Tuesday afternoon with blowing dust likely and perhaps an afternoon shower or storm. A cold front will move through Colorado Wednesday morning or midday, and this will drop snow levels to about 8,000 feet with 2-4 inches likely for most mountains during the day on Wednesday and continuing into Wednesday evening.

Thursday and Friday will be dry, then the fun begins over the weekend.

Long Range:

While I still have little confidence in the details of next weekend, most models agree that the weather pattern will become stormy across the west with lots of precipitation. Colorado will likely see snow on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and perhaps even Tuesday morning. Temperatures will cool and snow levels will drop below 8,000 feet, so any resorts that are open next weekend (and into early next week) will see all snow with no threat of rain like we saw this past weekend.

It's hard to figure snow totals since there's little certainty of the location and strength of the storm. However, the models are consistently forecasting 1-2 inches of precipitation, and that would translate into 10+ inches for many areas.

Precipitation forecast from the American GFS model for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Colorado should see significant snow, as should most other mountains across the west. Source: Twisterdata.com

I'll keep updating the Colorado Daily Snow through the week so stay tuned for more about next weekend's storm!

JOEL GRATZ

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I wrote two articles you might find interesting:

Where will the snow fall next season: http://opsw.co/RuMpRL

Two pieces of gear that changed my skiing: http://opsw.co/1lfY8fz

Summary:

Another round of afternoon rain and snow showers on Sunday, then Monday will be dry. Look for strong winds Tuesday afternoon, then a few inches of snow Tuesday night and Wednesday. Thursday and Friday should be dry, then we might see an extended period of cooler weather and snow from Saturday through Sunday and Monday. Sunday the 27th through Tuesday morning the 29th might actually be powder days at Abasin and Loveland ... stay tuned.

Details:

Yesterday was dry through early afternoon, then the storms popped up between about 2pm and 8pm with rain and snow showers over many mountain areas. Accumulations were light for most locations with just an inch or two falling over 10,000 feet. The exception was in Summit County where a strong cell brought a quick 4-6 inches of snow to Keystone, Breckenridge, Abasin, and Loveland between about 6-8pm, mainly above 10,500 feet. 

Today, Sunday, will be similar to Saturday but with fewer showers. The first half of the day will be dry and partly to mostly sunny, then clouds and showers will develop by the afternoon. Most models are showing that the heaviest showers will wait to fall until after 6pm, but the models do not handle convection very well (pop-up storms due to afternoon heating), so I don't have a lot of confidence in that timing...the showers could pop up earlier than 6pm. Like Saturday, the highest elevations might see a few inches from the heaviest showers.

Then Monday and Tuesday will be dry, with winds increasing on Tuesday afternoon. These winds will likely bring dust from the southwest on Tuesday afternoon and evening.

A cold front will move across Colorado on Tuesday night, and this should trigger a few showers Tuesday night through Wednesday, with 1-3 or 2-4 inches of snow across the northern 2/3rds of Colorado by midday Wednesday. Temperatures will be cooler than this weekend, so the snow level should drop to about 8,000 feet.

Then Thursday and Friday will be dry.

Long Range:

Next weekend looks very interesting. Most models are showing a single storm or multiple waves of energy hitting Colorado between Saturday the 26th and Monday the 28th. This storm (or series of storms) will bring in colder air, and we have a legitimate shot of late April powder days on Sunday, Monday, and perhaps Tuesday morning.

Long-range forecast from the American GFS model for next Sunday, showing that a storm is likely over Colorado. Source: Weatherbell.com

With temperatures well below freezing and multiple days of snow, I like our chances of a powder day in about a week. I believe that the only resorts open next Monday and Tuesday will be Abasin and Loveland, which would work out just fine as their higher elevation is what we need for good late-season powder. One of my best powder days last year was on May 1st at Loveland ... these late-season dumps can be fantastic!

JOEL GRATZ

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I wrote two articles you might find interesting:

Where will the snow fall next season: http://opsw.co/RuMpRL

Two pieces of gear that changed my skiing: http://opsw.co/1lfY8fz

Summary:

Showers on Saturday with warm temperatures, and similar Sunday but with fewer showers. Monday will be dry, Tuesday will be windy and dry, then we'll see more snow on Wednesday, perhaps 2-4 inches. A more powerful storm is possible around Sunday/Monday, April 27-28th.

Details:

A weak storm is pushing a lot of moisture into Colorado today, but there won't be much of a spark to turn this moisture into rain and snow. The best chance for precipitation will be in the San Juans and along and east of the divide, but some showers should pop up over all mountains by Saturday afternoon. Temperatures will be warm, so snow will be limited to over 10,000 feet.

The showers should decrease on Saturday night, then pop up again on Sunday, but Sunday should be the nicer day of the weekend.

After a dry and calm day on Monday, strong winds will develop on Tuesday afternoon ahead of our next storm. These winds should blow dust into Colorado from the southwest.

Tuesday's wind forecast at 10,000 feet shows 40-50kt winds are likely, and gusts of about this strength should hit the lower valleys as well. Source: Twisterdata.com

On Wednesday, the storm will move through with a cold front knocking temperatures down and producing light to moderate snow (2-4 inches). Then Thursday, Friday, and Saturday shoud return to dry and sunny weather.

Long Range:

A large storm will hit the west coast next weekend with heavy snow likely for Tahoe, and this should move toward Colorado by Sunday/Monday, April 27-28th. Keep this in the back of your mind as you'll likely be in full-on spring mode with many warm days ahead of this storm.

JOEL GRATZ

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The spring skiing season in the big mountains is here. Check out this trip report by the Centennial Skiers from Holy Cross Ridge: http://opsw.co/1jimGC2