On Thursday and Thursday night, snow fell on all northern and central mountains and the northern part of the southern mountains as well.

This storm wasn't that strong, but it had a few things going for it, including ideal temperatures which created fluffy snow accumulations, the storm energy tracking right across the central and northern mountains, favorable winds from the northwest, and the jet stream moving overhead on Thursday night as well.

Below are the snow totals from Thursday midday through Friday at sunrise. We were looking for 2-5 inches in general and up to 8 inches around Aspen and some northern mountains, and that's about what we got. Sometimes this weather forecasting thing works out pretty well:-)

Northern Mountains

8" Beaver Creek
8" Jones Pass
7" Vail
6" Berthoud Pass
6" Breckenridge
6" Eldora
5" Winter Park
4" Loveland
3" Arapahoe Basin
3" Copper
3" Keystone
3" Steamboat

Central Mountains

8" Grand Mesa
7" Aspen Highlands
7" Aspen Mountain
7" Snowmass
4" Monarch
2" Crested Butte

Southern Mountains

6" Red Mountain Pass
5" Telluride

Below are snow-stake images showing the two of the deeper totals. The snow looks pretty fluffy, especially on the Beaver Creek stake. If this were mid-winter with a lot of terrain open, Friday morning would be a fluffy fun powder morning. Alas, it's only October and the base is pretty thin, though I'm sure there will be turns made across the state this morning.

Weekend Openings

Speaking of making turns, two mountains will spin lifts this weekend.

Wolf Creek will open on Saturday and Sunday with beginner terrain and some top-to-bottom trails as well. Details here.

And Arapahoe Basin will open for the season starting on Sunday with one trail on the lower half of the mountain. Details here.

Dry for the next few days

Aside from lingering snow showers on Friday morning, Friday through Monday will be dry. Temperatures on Friday will be chilly and great for snowmaking. Temperatures on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday will be warmer with more marginal snowmaking conditions likely limited to nighttime.

There should be two storms coming up in the next 10 days. Neither system looks especially strong at the moment, but at least both systems will bring some snow and somewhat cooler temperatures.

Snow Monday night and Tuesday

The first storm should move in on Monday evening and bring snow through Tuesday. Snow will favor the northern mountains, and amounts could be in the 1-5 inch range. The models are now in general agreement about the track of the storm, but they struggled for the last few days, so I wouldn't be surprised if there are a few more changes to this forecast.

Dry Wednesday through Saturday

Following the snow early next week, we should see dry and warm weather for next Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Again, the models have struggled with the early-week storm, so maybe this dry forecast could change to allow some showers to hang on through Wednesday, but overall, it looks like non-wintry weather later next week.

Next storm around October 24-25

I have increasing confidence that we'll see storminess return to the Rockies around Sunday and Monday, October 24-25. This is not a lock since we're talking about a system that's still 10+ days away, but all models are trending this way, so it's something to keep an eye on.

You can now share maps!

When the forecast looks great, you can now natively share the stoke with your friends and family. This works for any map view and also for any mountain in our app.

Also, for a little something nifty, when you share the forecast for a mountain, a preview image showing the real-time forecast appears in the message. Cool!

Upcoming Talks

Save the dates! These talks will be in person and subject to some COVID restrictions so that we all stay as safe as possible while getting excited about the season.

• Wednesday, November 3: Denver
• Thursday, November 11: Breckenridge

I'm posting every day now, so look for my next forecast on Saturday morning.

Thanks for reading!

JOEL GRATZ

Geography Key

Northern Mountains
Steamboat, Bluebird Backcountry, 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