Bonus powder this past Thursday

The deepest snow totals from the storm this past Wednesday night into Thursday morning were 12 inches at Silverton and 11 inches at Steamboat. Something I didn’t notice was that Cuchara, a non-operating ski area in the southeast mountains, received over 10 inches, with the picture below serving as evidence!

Forecast for the next 7 days

This weekend will be dry. Saturday should bring more clouds, at least in the morning and midday, then Sunday will be sunny and warmer.

Monday should also be dry.

On Tuesday, a weak storm will track to the south of Colorado, and all models show a decent amount of moisture heading into Colorado with measurable snow possible. The best chance for a few inches of snow on Tuesday will be in the southern mountains.

On Wednesday and Thursday, a new system will track to the north of Colorado. While it will not make a direct hit on our state, there is now some agreement that a few inches of snow and colder temperatures could sweep over the northern mountains on Wednesday into Thursday.

On Friday, we’ll likely be dry.

Then over next weekend, Saturday and Sunday, December 22-23, it’s possible that the northern mountains might be clipped again by a storm tracking to our north. If this happens, snow amounts look like they will be light.

Things are looking better for the week of Christmas as all models sticking with their prediction for storms to return to the Rockies.

The first system could move through sometime around the 24th (Christmas Eve).

Then another storm looks likely just after Christmas (25-26th, ish). Below is the average forecast from 21 versions of the American GFS model for the 26th. The blue color shows storminess and this type of forecast gives me confidence that the odds for snow in Colorado are reasonably high.

To sum up, while earlier forecasts showed Colorado staying dry for seven or more days, it looks like some light snow will sneak into the state now and again next week, and then there will be a good chance for significant storms starting around Christmas Eve.

Thanks for reading!

My next update will be on Sunday, December 16.

JOEL GRATZ

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