Recap of Friday and Friday Night

The storm moved across Colorado on Friday and brought intense snow to the southern mountains on Friday and Friday night. Below are the snow totals from Friday morning through Saturday morning in the southern mountains.

Silverton: 15-20” (estimated based on SNOTEL)
Purgatory: 19”
Telluride: 10-11”
Wolf Creek: 9”

The central and northern mountains saw snow begin on Friday afternoon as a cold front pushed through, and snow continued lightly on Friday night. Below are the snow totals from Friday afternoon through Saturday morning for the central and northern mountains.

Aspen Mountain: 8”
Crested Butte: 8”
Snowmass: 7”
Aspen Mountain: 7”
Cooper: 6”
Vail: 6”
Buttermilk: 5”
Loveland: 5”
Monarch: 5”
Beaver Creek: 4”
Keystone: 4”
Steamboat: 4”
Winter Park: 4-5”
Arapahoe Basin: 3”
Breckenridge: 3”
Copper: 2”
Eldora: 1-2”

The cold front that moved through on Friday afternoon and evening brought a few hours of intense snow and even lightning strikes. Thanks to our software developer Erik Smith for saving this movie of lightning at Steamboat.

Forecast for Saturday

Now on Saturday morning, the storm is to the east of Colorado and we’ll see snow showers through the afternoon. All models agree that the best chance for deeper accumulations of 3-7+ inches on Saturday will be around Steamboat, which is benefiting from moisture in the storm’s wrap-around flow as well as a favorable wind from the west.

Other mountains should see light snow continue on Saturday with 1-3+ inches. A wind from the west can benefit the Aspen area and Summit County though temperatures are borderline too cold for a lot of snow (it’s never too cold to snow, but cold temperatures near 0°F signify an airmass that contains very little moisture, and we need a lot of moisture to generate a lot of snow).

Forecast for Sunday, Monday, Tuesday

Following Saturday’s very cold temperatures in the single digits, Sunday will be much warmer with midday and afternoon temperatures climbing into the 20s and lots of sunshine.

Monday will also be sunny and warm with highs in the 20s to low 30s.

On Monday night into Tuesday morning, we might see light snow for the northern mountains, though accumulations should be minimal.

I see multiple chances for snow during the first 10-15 days of December, though right now none of the storms look significant.

The first chance for snow will be on Wednesday night into Thursday, favoring the southern mountains with at least a few inches.

Then around Sunday, December 8, a storm should cross the Rockies, though it may split as it moves near Colorado. All mountains may see snow and my early estimate is for fewer than 10 inches.

Skipping ahead about one week, the weekend of Saturday to Sunday, December 14-15 is the time when all models show the chance for an active pattern to begin. This is 15 days into the future, and since model accuracy is pretty poor that far out, we’ll leave it at “maybe things will get more active during the middle of December”.

Thanks for reading!

My next update will be on Sunday morning.

JOEL GRATZ

PS – I have two more talks on my schedule and I hope to see some of you at one of them (listed below)!

PPS – Would you like to receive the Colorado Daily Snow via email when the latest report is published? Upgrade to All-Access and head to our website to subscribe to our Daily Snow Forecast Alerts (Settings > Snow Alerts).

Upcoming talks

These talks are usually 45 minutes and allow me to show a little of the science behind snow forecasting, have some fun, and answer lots of questions.

* Breckenridge: Dec 6 @ Colorado Mountain College Breckenridge
- Startup Weekend Kickoff Event
- 530 Dinner & Networking
- 630 My presentation discussing BOTH business & weather 
- 730 Startup Weekend Kickoff
- 830 Wrap up
- Tickets $25 includes dinner with a portion of proceeds donated to local non-profits
- See the event overview and buy tickets

* Basalt: Dec 12 @ Bristlecone Mountain Sports
- 700-730 Light refreshments
- 730-830 Presentation + Q&A
- Tickets are $10/person (proceeds benefit Roaring Fork Conservancy)
- More details
- Purchase a ticket in advance (might sell out)

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