It's the last week of September. There's a chill in the air. The Aspen leaves are turning gold over the higher elevations. Lift towers are being flown into position. Winter is coming:-)

Recap: Last week (Sep 19-23)

During September 20-22, we were expecting 1-2 inches of rain across the central and southern mountains thanks to a slug of moisture that pushed into Colorado from the southwest.

The forecast worked out pretty well, with many areas in the southwestern quadrant of Colorado picking up 1-2 inches of rain. Below is a map of the actual rainfall from last week, mostly around September 20-22.

Forecast: Snow later this week

Monday (Sep 26) will be a gorgeous day that is dry for most of Colorado.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (Sep 27-29) will bring showers to many mountain areas. These showers will be fueled by a decent push of moisture from the southwest. Temperatures will be pretty warm, though any of these showers could fall as snow on the highest mountains above 12,000-13,000 feet.

Friday and Saturday (Sep 30 - Oct 1) will be the days that a cooler storm arrives over the northern part of Colorado. The best chance for snow and rain will be over the northern 2/3rds of Colorado, and with cooling temperatures, snow could fall down to 11,000-12,000, or roughly close to or a bit below treeline.

The multi-model snow forecast for Berthoud Pass in northern Colorado shows the chance for a few inches of snow accumulation from later Friday into Saturday.

This potential snow on Friday into Saturday isn't a big deal in the scheme of things, but it'll make it feel like late fall in the mountains, and once the clouds clear, there could be some lovely views with snow on the peaks and golden aspen leaves on the mid-slopes.

Early October

It looks like Sunday will be the drier and warmer day of the weekend, and then early next week (October 3-5) could be a mix of dry weather and showers.

Later next week, around Thursday, October 6, there could be a weak-to-moderately strong storm that moves close to Colorado and could bring us a higher chance for rain and snow. Though my confidence in any exact scenario is exceedingly low.

Hurricane Ian

Best wishes to the people in western Cuba and Florida as Hurricane Ian strengthens and impacts these areas with storm surge, strong winds, and flooding rain. Even if Ian stops strengthening or weakens a bit before it makes landfall in Florida, the storm surge and heavy rainfall could produce significant impacts. The best source of information is the discussion and graphics from the National Hurricane Center.

Forecast Anywhere

We just updated our iOS and Android apps with a SUPER cool new feature called Forecast Anywhere.

Now you can get the forecast for any location on earth (that's on land). You can also save these custom points to your favorites screen.

This means that you can now get the forecast for the exact location of your next adventure, or your secret powder stash, or yes - even your house. Every custom point is private and nobody will see your point except you, so your secret powder stash will be safe:-)

Tap here for a quick visual step-by-step guide about how to use Forecast Anywhere.

The Forecast Anywhere functionality is live now on our iOS and Android apps (if you don't see it, please update your app), and it will be live on our website in the coming weeks.

Upcoming In-Person Presentations

Join me for in-person presentations this fall.

These talks are fun, educational, and often support a local non-profit.

The content of each presentation varies a bit, though usually focuses on what to expect for the upcoming season, some tips and tricks that I use to forecast and chase powder, and behind-the-scenes information about the technology that we use to generate our forecasts.

• Wed, Oct 5. Boulder. Arc Teryx Store (1600 Pearl St)
  600pm Doors Open
  700pm Presentation
  Must RSVP to attend
  Raffle tickets sold to support SOS Outreach
  
  
• Thu, Oct 13. Boulder. Neptune Mountaineering (633 S Broadway)
  630pm Doors Open
  700pm Short intro weather chat by Joel Gratz
  715pm Full presentation about Alaska skiing by professional skier Chris Davenport
  
  
• Wed, Oct 26. Denver. Bug Theater (3654 Navajo St)
  600pm Doors Open
  700pm Presentation
  Raffle tickets sold to support SOS Outreach
  
  
• Thu, Nov 3. Boulder. Neptune Mountaineering (633 S Broadway)
  630pm Doors Open
  700pm Presentation
  Raffle tickets sold to support SOS Outreach
  
  
• Wed, Nov 9. Golden. Powder7 (880 Brickyard Cir)
  700pm Doors Open
  730pm Presentation

Come on out and bring your friends and family so that everyone can get excited about the upcoming season!

Next update

I'll write another update on Monday, October 3.

Thanks so much for reading!

JOEL GRATZ