Saturday was mostly dry, but we're in the zone for storminess so the dry weather didn't last long.

Sunday

Snow started to fall around 400am for some spots and it's filling in across the state as I write this at around 500am.  

Expect snow to fall for most of the day on Sunday. The good news is that temperatures will cool during the day and we'll see significant snowfall. The bad news is that winds will be strong with 50-80mph gusts on the ridgelines throughout much of the day. I expect 5-10 inches for most mountains by Sunday evening with 10+ inches for spots favored by flow from the southwest and west-southwest (southern and central mountains).

Monday

The morning and midday will bring less intense but likely still some snowfall. There could be good powder in the morning from Sunday's leftovers.

Monday Afternoon – Tuesday Afternoon

The next round of snow will push through and all mountains will see the most intense snow on Monday night into Tuesday morning with 5-10+ inches of snow. Once again, some areas in the central and southern mountains will see 10+ inches. Temperatures will be cold, in the single digits for many areas, and winds will be not as strong as previous storms as we head into Tuesday morning, so the powder quality could be quite good on Tuesday morning into midday.

Tuesday Afternoon – Wednesday

Amazingly, snow could continue, at least in a light-to-moderate form, mostly for the central and especially for the southern mountains.

Thursday – Friday

I think some or most mountains will see a break in the snow, but the southern mountains could continue to see snow during these days.

Friday – Saturday

The final storm of this week-long snow party should push through with significant snow for all mountains. The best powder will likely be on Saturday, and depending on the exact timing, there could be leftovers or even freshies for Sunday morning as well.

Overall

The weather pattern for the next week will feature a flow from the southwest and west-southwest, which is why the deepest snow totals this week will be in the central and southern mountains.

We will likely see a break in the snow from Sunday, January 2 through about Tuesday, January 4.

Then, it's likely that starting around Wednesday, January 5, we'll see a shift in the weather pattern with a flow coming from the west-northwest and the northwest. Some models show that this will set up good snowfall for the northern half of Colorado and other models show that this pattern will push storms too far to the north. We'll see how it goes!

Thanks for reading!

JOEL GRATZ

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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