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 21, 2019

Snow everyday through Monday

Summary

From Thursday through Monday, we’ll see times with bursts of intense snow and times with drier weather. Total accumulations should be 6-12 inches and there will be chances for low-to-moderate powder days on Friday, Saturday, maybe Sunday, and probably Monday. Then we’ll have a break on Tuesday and Wednesday before another storm heads into Colorado from about Thursday (March 28) through Saturday (March 30).

Short Term Forecast

Another Snowpack Graph!

Sorry, I just cannot stop thinking about, looking at, and posting graphs and maps showing our current (well above average) snowpack in Colorado.

The graph below is something new that the NRCS made available this season. You can pick any year going back about 35 years and overlay those years on top of the median snowpack as well as the shading for the percentiles around the average.

For example, this graph shows the shading from the minimum snowpack to the maximum snowpack over the past 35 years, broken out into the 10th, 30th, 50th, 70th, and 90th percentiles, and then I overlaid this season’s snowpack, the median snowpack, and last season’s snowpack.

As of March 20, 2019, our snowpack was 141% of median and roughly double where we were last year at this time!

Here is a direct link to this online tool so that you can play with the data yourself!

Five days of snow

There are no big changes to the forecast for the next five days.

I am still expecting us to see snow every day from Thursday through Monday. The precipitation will be showery, so sometimes you might see intense snow with rates of one inch per hour or greater, and other times it could be partly sunny and dry. I’ll do my best to break down the upcoming days to see when we might have the best chance for riding powder.

Thursday

Early Thursday morning, the regional radar shows showers over Arizona and Utah to our west, and this is heading in our direction.

The southern mountains will be first in line to see this snow and expect 2-5 inches in the south on Thursday with just light showers elsewhere. The maps below are from the CAIC 2km WRF model.

Thursday Night

This is when we’ll see our first round of intense snow. A band of heavy snow should move across the state overnight, with the deeper totals in the south (thanks to a wind from the south) and most other mountains should see at least a few inches of snow. The exact placement of the deeper snow amounts in the forecast below is not certain due to the showery nature of the snow, so just use the map as a general guide.

Friday

We’ll start the day with fresh snow from Thursday night. Then another round of showers should move across the state during the midday and afternoon hours. This round of snow during the afternoon could be intense and might hit as many people leave work early and head to the mountains, so be careful driving on Friday afternoon. Most mountains should get an additional 2-5 inches during this time.

Friday Night

Snow could continue with a wind from the west or northwest, which should favor the northern mountains, central mountains, and the north side of the southern mountains (Telluride, Silverton). Expect another 2-5 inches. Sorry, this forecast of snow amounts sounds like a broken record of vagueness, but it’s the best I can do.

Saturday

I think that Saturday morning could offer the best powder for the northern, central, and north side of the southern mountains because we’ll have a somewhat softer base due to the 48 hours of previous snowfall, and there could be enough snow after lifts close on Friday afternoon and Friday night to make it fresh for Saturday morning. During the day on Saturday we’ll likely see just lighter showers with low accumulations.

Saturday Night to Monday

It looks like showers will pick back up on Saturday night and snow could continue through early Monday morning. I think that conditions on Sunday will get softer during the day and be best on Monday morning.

Best Powder

Here’s my thought right now for when to find the best snow:

Southern Mountains, South side: Friday morning

Southern Mountains, North side: Saturday morning, Monday morning

Central Mountains: Saturday morning, Monday morning

Northern Mountains: Saturday morning, Monday morning

Overall: Remember that we’ll see rounds of showers, so the forecast is more uncertain than if we were going to see a period of steady snow. For now, think about multi-day totals in the 6-12 inch, and due to the high amount of moisture in the air, the bursts of snow showers could deliver a lot of inches in just a few hours, so we might surprise on the high side in a few spots.

Extended Forecast

Tuesday 3/26 – Wednesday 3/27

I still think that these days will be dry and warm. It could get windy on Wednesday ahead of the next storm.

Thursday 3/28 – Saturday 3/30

There have been a few changes in the details of the storm that should hit during these days, but the system is still one week away, so it would be a waste of time to worry about those details now. In general, snow should start on Thursday and could last into Friday or Saturday.

My Chat with Colorado’s Governor Polis yesterday (Wednesday, March 20)

Here is a link to our group chat with the Governor, talking about the deep snowpack in our state. The last time our snowpack was this deep, this late in the season was 2007-2008 (that season was a little lower than this season) and also the season of…well, I’ll let you watch for yourself:-) I’m the one (who appears quite short!) second from the left. Link to video —> https://opsw.co/Polis32019

Thanks for reading!

My next update will be on Friday morning.

JOEL GRATZ

Announcements

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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