Colorado Daily Snow

Heads up, there may be fresher snow! Read the latest Colorado Daily Snow

By Joel Gratz, Founding Meteorologist Posted 5 years ago March 15, 2019

As good as it gets

Summary

The entire state of Colorado has a snowpack that's well above average. We’ll see a break in the storms over the weekend and through early next week, then stormy weather should return starting late next week and it might continue through April. The good times, they should keep on comin’.

Short Term Forecast

Powder Pics

This week’s storm cycle delivered 50 inches in 4 days to Wolf Creek in the southern mountains. There’s nothing better than deep snow and amazing skiing captured by a talented professional photographer.

Thanks to Wolf Creek and Jeff Cricco for sharing these photos! If you love inspiring photos of deep snow, give @jeffcricco a follow on Instagram.

The best part of the last week (well, last two months, really) is that all areas of Colorado have enjoyed great snow. Above, Wolf Creek has been deep, and they are in the southern mountains.

On the opposite part of the state, at Winter Park in the northern mountains, an OpenSnow reader had a blast taking first tracks down The Cirque right after it opened for the first time in two days.

And not to be forgotten, the central mountains are deep as well. The picture below is the official snow depth measurement stake at Irwin Cat Skiing, just west of Crested Butte. That’s a base of 115 inches and the stake will be buried with just a few more inches of snow.

The Forecast

The latest storm cycle is over. Enjoy the sun. Breathe deep. Relax. For now, it’s break time.

For Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, look forward to weather that is sunny, dry, and warming each day with Friday’s highs in the 20s and highs over the weekend in the 30s.

Extended Forecast

First some details about the next two weeks and then a note about the outlook into April.

For the next two weeks:

* Monday night to Wednesday: Likely some showers, maybe some high-elevation accumulations, favoring the southern and eastern mountains.

* Late next week, Thursday 3/21, Friday 3/22, Saturday, 3/23: A solid chance for a moderate or strong storm which could favor the southern and eastern mountains. Maybe enough snow for one or two powder days.

* Sunday 3/24 – Friday 3/29: Likely a storm or two. Chances for powder days. No clue on exact timing.

For the next 6 weeks, from the second half of March through April:

* The latest 45-day European forecast shows an active pattern starting up late next week (see above bullets) and continuing through most of April.

* This does NOT mean that it’ll snow every day for 5 weeks, or that storms will make a direct hit on Colorado, or that the snow will be as good as what we’ve seen in the last 6 weeks.

* What's remarkable is that this season started early and strong, it got better and better in January and February and early March, and we might end the season in stormy fashion from late March through April.

* 45-day forecasts are truly out in fantasy land as there is little forecast skill at those lead times, but when the average of 50 versions of the European model shows a stormy pattern for 5-ish weeks, it catches my eye.

Thanks for reading!

My next update will be on Saturday morning.

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

About Our Forecaster

Joel Gratz

Founding Meteorologist

Joel Gratz is the Founding Meteorologist of OpenSnow and has lived in Boulder, Colorado since 2003. Before moving to Colorado, he spent his childhood as a (not very fast) ski racer in eastern Pennsylvania.

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