Colorado Daily Snow
By Joel Gratz, Founding Meteorologist Posted 6 years ago February 2, 2018
Strongest energy and deepest snow likely on Tuesday in the northern mountains
Summary
Waves of moisture and energy will pass over the northern mountains through Wednesday, and the times of strongest energy could generate a few inches of snow for the mountains near and north of I-70. A few inches are possible on Saturday morning, Saturday evening, and the best chance for some powder will be on Tuesday. After that, we will enter a dry pattern over the western US, but there is a chance for a rogue storm to bring some snow around February 10th.
Short Term Forecast
The first of many waves of snow passed over the northern mountains late on Wednesday night through Thursday midday. Below are the totals as best as I can estimate based on SNOTEL stations and webcams (I am writing this before the resorts officially report snow on Friday morning).
Cameron Pass - 5-7”
Eldora - 5”
Loveland - 5”
Arapahoe Basin - 4”
Winter Park - 4”
Breckenridge - 2”
Copper - 2”
Keystone - 2-3”
Steamboat - 2”
Echo - 1”
Vail - 1/2”
The map below shows the change in snow-water equivalent (if you melted the new snow) from Wednesday night through Thursday night. It lines up well with the snow reports above, showing the most action near and north of I-70 and along the higher elevations near the divide.
Now on Friday, will be are lots of clouds over the northern mountains during the day, but without a spark to lift the air and convert this moisture into snow (a spark would be a cold front, or storm energy), we should see a mostly cloudy and mostly dry day.
The next piece of energy is currently over Montana and should bring snow to the northern mountains on Saturday morning.
Expect the best chances for 2-4 inches of snow in the northern mountains on Saturday morning and also later Saturday afternoon. Then on Monday night into Tuesday, the final and strongest piece of energy should bring more significant accumulations to the northern mountains, with some snow for the central and perhaps southern mountains as well. This piece of energy will bring colder air, and that, along with the energy, will serve as an ample spark to lift the air and convert the moisture into snow.
My picks for the best chances for soft snow and powder in the northern mountains are Saturday morning/midday, maybe Sunday first chair if we see the energy on Saturday afternoon, and then maybe last chair Monday or more likely on Tuesday.
Extended Forecast
The northern mountains might hang on to snow showers next Wednesday, then the storm track should shift further to the north and east and we should see dry weather heading into next weekend. Some models are hinting that a rogue storm will buck the trend of the storm track staying to our north and east and bring snow to Colorado on or around February 10th. This is a low chance, but still a chance.
Thanks for reading!
JOEL GRATZ
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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