Colorado Daily Snow
By Joel Gratz, Founding Meteorologist Posted 3 years ago November 24, 2020
Nice storm totals plus a bit more on the way
Summary
On Monday night, moderate-to-intense snow fell across Colorado. Tuesday morning's 24-hour snow totals are 3-12 inches. During the day on Tuesday, an additional 1-4 inches should accumulate, mostly over the northern mountains. Wednesday will be dry. On Thursday, a weak storm should bring flakes with light accumulations.
Short Term Forecast
Monday was a mixed day across Colorado with some snow showers and some breaks in the clouds.
On Monday night, the brunt of the storm moved across Colorado and dropped moderate to significant snow totals.
Here are the snow accumulations from Monday morning through Tuesday morning:
Northern Mountains
12" Keystone
7" Arapahoe Basin (3" 500am-700am)
7" Loveland
6" Breckenridge
5" Copper
5" Vail
5" Winter Park
4" Beaver Creek
4" Eldora
4" Ski Cooper
3" Steamboat
Central Mountains
8" Crested Butte
5" Aspen Highlands
5" Aspen Mountain
5" Snowmass
3" Buttermilk
Southern Mountains
10" Telluride
5" Wolf Creek (storm total = 12")
The deepest snowfall on Monday night was surprisingly at Keystone where their snow stake cam provided visual proof of the 12 inches of new accumulation.
On Tuesday morning, snow will continue to fall in wrap-around northwest flow, and this snow should favor the northern mountains (Arapahoe Basin picked up an additional 3 inches between 500am-700am) as well as the northern parts of the southern mountains (Telluride, Silverton).
You can track the storm's progress via radar available here on OpenSnow (website & mobile app).
This was a nice little storm.
The only downsides are that the snow is thick due to warmer temperatures in the 20s (but thick snow is actually good for base building, so this is really not much of a downside) and also I was surprised that Wolf Creek only picked up 12" (maybe a few more inches on Tuesday morning) while I was expecting closer to 20" (the warm temperatures on Monday may have prevented the atmosphere from converting all the moisture into plentiful snow) but the mountain is nearly 100% open so tough to beat soft snow with a lot of terrain.
Wednesday
If you didn't have the chance to enjoy the fresh snow on Tuesday, you can enjoy the sunshine on Wednesday as it'll be a dry day with temperatures in the 20s. The cooler air behind the current storm should allow crews to make snow through Wednesday morning.
Thursday
A weak and moisture-starved storm will move from northwest to southeast across Colorado during the day. Most mountains should see snowflakes and amounts could be anything between a dusting to a couple of inches.
Friday
The storm from Thursday may hang out south of Colorado and could bring more flakes and light accumulations to the southern mountains throughout the day.
Extended Forecast
The weather pattern into early December is NOT favorable for significant snow. We might see lighter amounts around December 1-2 and maybe again around December 6-8. If luck is on our side, perhaps one of these weak systems will be more productive than expected.
The somewhat good news about the weather next week into early December is that temperatures will be near average or even colder than average with bursts of cooler air moving into Colorado every few days.
With temperatures near or colder than average, at least the snow that we have should stick around at the mid-and-higher elevations and crews will be able to make more snow.
The longest-range models continue to hint at a more active pattern around the west during the second half of December. I have my fingers (and toes) crossed that this will happen.
Thanks for reading!
JOEL GRATZ
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Geography Key
Northern Mountains
Steamboat, Granby, Beaver Creek, Vail, Ski Cooper, Copper, Breckenridge, Keystone, Loveland, Arapahoe Basin, 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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