Colorado Daily Snow

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

By Joel Gratz, Founding Meteorologist Posted 10 years ago March 26, 2014

Summary:

A few bursts of snow Wednesday afternoon, heavier snow Wednesday night, lighter on Thursday, then another round of heavier snow Thursday night for northern Colorado.

Most mountains will see 10+ inches by Friday morning. Thursday should be a good powder day, and Friday morning might be the deepest, softest, and fluffiest powder day for northern Colorado. Friday afternoon and Saturday will be dry, then look for another storm on Sunday (2-4 inches) and yet another one next Tuesday night through Wednesday (4-6+ inches).

Details:

I spent most of this morning looking for new data that would change the forecast I wrote about yesterday, but I don't see any big changes. I'll summarize my thoughts below, and here is the detailed snow forecast for each mountain: http://opsw.co/CO1-5

On Wednesday midday and afternoon, snow showers will increase in coverage, but they will be scattered with a few random places seeing a quick inch or two and most areas seeing no accumulations. The exception will be in the San Juans where I have more confidence that a few inches will fall by sunset.

Wednesday night will be the time of the heaviest, steadiest snow for most mountains with widespread accumulations of 6+ inches. There will be a LOT of moisture in the air Wednesday night, and this can lead to heafty snowfall amounts. Winds from the west will favor the central and western mountains, with perhaps a bit less snow further east around Summit County. That said, lots of moisture and storm energy can overwhelm a negative wind direction and I've been burned before by forecasting too low when moisture is plentiful. 

Thursday morning will be a powder day for many locations. Based on the experience of last few storms, it might take 10 inches to cover the crust on east, south, and west facing slopes, so if your mountain gets less than about 10 inches, stick to north-facing terrain for the softest base. The heaviest snow will be done by Thursday morning, and most of the daylight hours on Thursday will offer times of dry weather, times of light snow, and a few bursts of heavier snow. Accumulations during the day should average a few inches for most mountains, but the bursts of snow could mean that some mountains see few flakes and others get a few hours of dumpage. Much like summertime thunderstorms, it's impossible to forecast the exact location of the heaviest cells of precipitation.

Thursday night will offer another round of steadier snow for the northern half of Colorado. This includes Aspen and north to I-70 and Steamboat. Steamboat and Vail can do well in a WNW or NW flow pattern, so keep an eye on these (and nearby) mountains for another very nice powder day on Friday morning. Temperatures will drop into the mid teens on Thursday night, so any snow that does fall during this time (2-4 inches for most, maybe 6+ inches for favored areas) will be fluffy and should be falling on a soft base due to the snow over the previous 24 hours. 

Friday will start out with lingering snow showers and a good powder morning in the north, and then the skies will dry out by the midday and afternoon hours.

colorado snow

Total precipitation forecasted by the high resolution NAM 4km model from Wednesday through Friday. Many mountain areas could see 1+ inch of precipition, which translates into 12-18 inches of storm-total snowfall. This might be a bit on the high side as an average for most mountains, but is definitely in range for some. Source: Weatherbell.com

Friday night through Saturday night will be dry.

Sunday will offer another storm with 2-4+ inches falling during the day. There is still some uncertainty on the strength of this storm as the strongest energy might miss us to the north. The slopes will be refreshed on Sunday, but don't look for a big powder day.

Long Range:

Next Monday will be dry, then another storm will bring snow to most of Colorado from Tuesday evening through Wednesday. Much like the Sunday storm, I'm still unsure whether this storm will strike us directly or offer just a glancing blow. But since the storm will be around for 24 hours versus 12 hours for Sunday's storm, I have higher confidence that at least 4-6 inches will fall and that next Wednesday could be a powder day. Stay tuned.

After next Wednesday, most models transition us to a drier pattern, but the often-more-accurate European model shows storms continuing into the following week. This means that I have no clue what will happen, and we'll have to wait at least another few days until the models sort themselves out.

JOEL GRATZ

> Checkout Liftopia for Discount Lift Tickets

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