Folks ... it's about 11 pm on Saturday night and I like what I'm seeing.

The winds from the south are bringing healthy snow to the southern mountains, and the band of intense snow moving from west-to-east across Colorado is strong and dumping a lot of snow in a little time.

From late Saturday afternoon through Saturday at 11 pm, here are the highest totals from south-to-north:

Purgatory has 6 inches (2 inches before the snow stake was cleared at about 4 pm).

Telluride has about 7 inches based on the snow stake below and automated sensors.

Snowmass has about 6-7 inches based on the webcam and automated sensors. This intense snow has favored Snowmass so far because it is further west...other Aspen-area mountains haven't seen as much snow (yet). A few miles can make a big difference.

And up the road from Snowmass is Sunlight, which also shows 6 inches.

This band of intense snow should push east across the rest of Colorado through Saturday night, but it also might weaken as it moves. This means that most other mountains should see at least 2-4 inches from this band, but amounts might not be as high as the locations I mentioned above.

On Sunday morning, the storm will rapidly strengthen over eastern Colorado, and this should mean additional snow through at least midday Sunday for most mountains.

My forecast going into the storm was 5-10 inches for most mountains, and I have a pretty good feeling that we'll hit this range. This range might also be a bit on the conservative side because strengthening storms can produce more snow than forecast.

I know you focus on the exact inches in the forecast and trust me – I do as well. I want to get the forecast right every time, down to the inch. But also, in a storm like this, the main thing to focus on is the timing – Sunday will be a powder day nearly everywhere, so I hope you go skiing. If it snows on the lower end of the range, that's a bummer but still fun, and if it snows on the high end or well above the high end of the range, then you're already skiing and your smile will be even bigger.

I'll post another short update again early on Sunday morning.

Have a great night and enjoy the flakes!

JOEL