Colorado Daily Snow

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

By Joel Gratz, Founding Meteorologist Posted 3 years ago January 14, 2021

Wind is the story, some snow coming up

Summary

Wednesday night's wind gusts reached ludicrous speed with high-elevation readings of 70-90mph across Colorado. Thursday will also be a windy day. Our next chance for snow will be on Saturday with 1-6 inches favoring the northern half of the state. Then another storm will bring snow Monday into Tuesday, this time favoring the southern mountains.

Short Term Forecast

On Wednesday night, the wind gust speed was forecast to be very strong, and high-elevation weather stations confirm that in real life, the wind gust speed was very strong. Some might even say that our winds reached ludicrous speed!

Gusts reached 50-90+ mph all across the state. Here are a few weather station graphics, moving from north-to-south, and sourced from CAIC's excellent weather station page.

Along with the fast winds on Wednesday night, we saw snow. Well, a very, little bit of snow. Most cams and reports show anything from a dusting to a coating to maybe 1 inch if we're feeling generous.

Thursday will bring more fast winds and cold temperatures in the single digits and teens. Wind speeds will be a little slower than Wednesday night, but still very strong with gusts of 30-60+ mph throughout the day which could affect lift operations.

Friday will be a somewhat warmer day with highs in the teens and maybe 20s, and winds will be slower though still a little gusty.

Saturday will be our next chance for snow. Expect flakes to fall over the northern 2/3rds of the state between about Friday night at midnight and Saturday early afternoon. Accumulations should be in the 1-6 inch range from the northern mountains all the way to the northern San Juans in the southern mountains. There might be soft turns (on groomers and north-facing terrain) for Saturday's first chair with conditions becoming a little softer through the morning.

Extended Forecast

Sunday should be a dry day as we will be between storms.

Monday and Tuesday are when we'll see the next system. On Monday, the northern mountains could see light snow, then the storm will dive to the southwest and this track should bring the most snow to the southern mountains and southeast mountains from Monday night to Tuesday night. Tuesday could be a powdery day for some southern mountains if the forecast works out.

From Monday, January 20 to Sunday, January 24 we'll see an active pattern across the west with two chances for snow here in Colorado. The first chance for snow will be around January 21-22 as energy from that southwestern storm tries to lift across Colorado. The second chance for snow will be around January 24-25 as energy from our west eventually moves east into and across Colorado.

Perspective

I will continue to post reader-submitted pictures to keep us motivated to ride even during periods of drier weather. Here are today's photos…from the air!

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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