Summary:

Dry through Saturday afternoon, then a chance of light snow for the northern mountains from Saturday night through Monday and also around New Years.

Details:

It's starting out clear and chilly aross the state this morning. Inversions will be forming in snow-covered valleys from now through Saturday, so expect temperatures to be cooler in the valleys than they are on the slopes.

The ridge of drier and warmer weather will be over the west coast through Saturday. This will act as a shield against the storms and Colorado will stay dry.

Starting on Saturday night, this ridge will move a bit further west and will allow some energy and moisture to hit northern and eastern Colorado. I think we'll see snow showers in the area north and east of Aspen from Saturday night through Monday morning, but accumulations will be light, if anything. There might be a break on Monday and then the same area could see a return of snow showers on Tuesday and Wednesday. The big caveat is that this northwest flow pattern is tricky to pin down, and a shift of just 50 miles west or east can mean the difference between a couple inches of snow each day or no snow each day. Right now I'm going to split the difference and forecast flurries and light snow showers.

The overall weather pattern looks like it'll change around January 10th, plus or minus 5 days. I don't know what this means for snowfall across the state because it's impossible to forecast details that far out. But it does look like the blocking ridge to our west will break down, which could allow frequent storms to move into Colorado, including southern areas where there hasn't been much fresh snow recently.

If you're jonesin' for powder over the next 7-10 days, head north! Montana and Wyoming are doing well and will see some additional snow around New Years. Also, northern-interior British Columbia is doing very well, from Revelstoke north to Jasper and Prince George. Luckily my BC trip is coming up this weekend and next week, so I'll report back on what I find:-)

JOEL GRATZ