It's the weather pattern that keeps on giving. While most of our storms during the season are of the one-and-done variety where it snows for 6-18 hours and then the storm departs, sometimes we are lucky enough to get into a more consistently snowy pattern where flakes continue to fall for days and days. And that's what we have seen for the better part of the last week.

On Wednesday and Wednesday night, continued snow showers delivered an additional 1-4 inches to many mountains. There were also some bigger winners. On Wednesday, Steamboat measured 4-6 inches, mostly during the first half of the day. Also on Wednesday, Powderhorn went to the high side with 8 inches during the day and 3 additional inches on Wednesday night – that 11-inch total was a big surprise, but in hindsight, I should have seen the potential as Powderhorn can do well with a wind from the north with lingering storm energy and moisture tracking overhead. And on Wednesday night, Eldora grabbed 6 inches which was in line with what we were thinking for mountains east of the divide.

Now on Thursday, most mountains will see dry-ish weather as drier air works into the state, though there will be enough lingering moisture and storm energy that we might also see a few showers pop-up from time-to-time.

On Friday, a weak system will bring snow showers to the northern mountains and these showers might extend just south of I-70 and down to Aspen. Forecast accumulations look light, just a coating to a few inches at the most, and the best time to see flakes should be between mid-morning and early afternoon.

On Saturday, the next storm will arrive and snow showers should start up by late morning or midday. Then steadier snow is likely between Saturday mid-afternoon and early Sunday morning. I still think 5-10 inches is a good forecast for most northern and central mountains and we'll see if the northern San Juan mountains can also get in on this action.

Based on the timing of the storm with snow falling late in the day on Saturday and Saturday night, there should be some powder to enjoy on Sunday morning.

Monday and Tuesday (February 22-23) will be dry.

Then the next storm will likely bring snow sometime between Wednesday and Thursday, February 24-25. And following this system, we should see additional storms sometime during the weekend of February 27-28 and into the first three days of March. Below is the 7-day weather pattern forecast for February 25 to March 3 and the blue shading shows an area of generally cooler and stormier weather.

Thanks to the snowfall during the past two weeks, our statewide snowpack is inching upward and getting closer to average, and the storms during the next 10+ days should help us to maintain our position or even advance further toward average. I'll post an updated snowpack graphic in Friday's update.

Thanks for reading!

JOEL GRATZ

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