First flake watch!

A cool storm to the north of Colorado might give us a shot to see a few flakes on the highest peaks on August 19th.

The highest peaks in Colorado are in the 13,000-14,000 foot range with a handful over 14,000 feet.

The rain/snow level on the morning of August 19th could drop as low as 12,000-13,000 feet in the northeast mountains, so there’s a chance for a few snowflakes at the highest elevations.

The map below shows the snow level forecast. To read the map, “12.5” means “12,500 feet”. Image from CAIC.

Of course, a low-ish snow level can only deliver snow if there is precipitation. And there IS a chance for light precipitation in the northeast mountains on Sunday morning, mostly along the continental divide around Rocky Mountain National Park and the Never Summer mountain range north of Grand Lake.

So maybe we'll see a few flakes in the northern mountains with a dusting on the highest peaks if we're lucky. If you see flakes, leave a note/picture in the comments to let us know.

Aside from this brief chance for snow, temperatures will warm up for the next 7-10 days, so it’s unlikely that we’ll have another chance for snow through late August.

Thanks for reading!

JOEL GRATZ

Win a trip...

A friend of mine helps to run the Vail Symposium, which hosts community events with expert speakers throughout the year. Their annual fundraising raffle is going on now and the grand prize package is a seven-day luxury stay in Vail. I thought this might be an enticing prize for the OpenSnow community in Colorado. Here’s the link for more information: https://go.rallyup.com/vailvacation

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