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 25, 2021

Snow on Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday

Summary

Waves of storm energy will continue to track from the southwest to the northeast across Colorado on Monday and Tuesday. The steadiest snow could be on Tuesday for most areas, but the details are more nuanced than that and I'll discuss more in the post. Looking further ahead, the next storm should bring snow from Friday night through Saturday, and another storm should arrive around February 3.

Short Term Forecast

Sunday

More snow fell with 3-10 inches accumulating across the southern mountains and 1-5 inches for the central and northern mountains. Storm total snowfall from Friday through Sunday is up to about 2 feet for some southern mountains, 6-12 inches in the central mountains, and generally just a couple of inches in the northern mountains.

Sunday Night

The far southern mountains saw additional snowfall of 2-10+ inches and most other mountains received just a coating to an inch or two.

Monday & Tuesday

Waves of snow will continue to move across Colorado, and just like the past two days, the deeper snow totals will be in the far southern mountains with decent accumulations in the central mountains and generally less snow farther to the north. That said, each wave of snow could create a few surprisingly higher totals in the central and southern mountains if a few stronger cells happen to hit a mountain.

The forecast radar from Monday morning to Wednesday morning nicely shows the multiple waves of snow, with one on Monday morning, another on Tuesday, and then northwest flow developing for a few hours Tuesday night to finish out the storm.

Monday

Snow totals look a little scattered on the map below. My best estimate is that one wave finishes in the southern mountains in the morning while another wave moves through some central and northern mountains during the morning and midday. Then a shot of snow will develop over the eastern part of the I-70 corridor late in the afternoon (more on that below).

 

Monday Night

There will be two main areas of interest.

Mountains near and east of the divide near I-70 should see a burst of snow. While it looks like the best chance for this snowfall will be just south and east of most ski areas, Echo could see this snow, and, if the snow pushes just a bit farther to the west, it will be close to Eldora, Berthoud Pass, Winter Park, Loveland, Arapahoe Basin, Keystone, and Breckenridge. While I do NOT have high confidence that these areas will see a lot of snow, it's a close call so it bears watching.

The other area of interest will be the far southern mountains. The next wave of snow will arrive before sunrise and likely provide fluffy powder for Tuesday's first chair.

Tuesday

The wave of snow that will hit the southern mountains late on Monday night will move across all mountains on Tuesday and should bring at least a couple of inches of snow to most areas.

Tuesday Night

The storm will end with a period of flow from the west and northwest. This should keep snow showers going over the northern, central, and some southern mountains and will likely result in at least a few inches of new snow and fun/soft conditions on Wednesday morning.

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

These days will be mostly dry. A few showers could sneak in on Wednesday, and completely dry weather is likely on Thursday and early Friday. Then the next storm could deliver snow as early as Friday afternoon.

Extended Forecast

The first storm in the longer-range outlook will bring snow between Friday afternoon and Sunday, January 29-31. Everything about this storm screams "moderate". Not too weak. Not too strong. Somewhere in the middle. For snowfall, my initial estimate is 2-10 inches and Saturday could be the softest day to ride.

The second storm in the longer-range outlook should arrive later on February 2nd or more likely on February 3rd. This storm could be just the first of many waves of energy that could bring snow to Colorado on-and-off over a 5-day period.

Thanks for reading!

JOEL GRATZ

Announcements

Backcountry

If you've seen pictures of backcountry riding in fresh powder, and it looks appealing, please remember that going into the backcountry is awesome AND requires education if you're going to enjoy it safely and respectfully.

This is a great place to start to find out more about taking educational classes, hiring guides, and in general, to learn how to get into the backcountry and have a ton of fun and do so safely: https://www.colorado.com/WinterBackcountrySafety

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.

Free OpenSnow App