Colorado Daily Snow

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

By Joel Gratz, Founding Meteorologist Posted 1 year ago October 26, 2022

Snow Wednesday and Thursday, then a storm later next week

Summary

The first storm will bring snow now on Wednesday morning, then a second and stronger storm will bring snow on Wednesday night into Thursday midday. Total snow accumulations from both storms could be greater than 10 inches. After these storms, Friday through next Wednesday will be dry with decent snowmaking conditions, then we should see our next storm around November 3-4.

Short Term Forecast

It's snowing!

Storm #1: Tuesday afternoon - Wednesday morning

On Tuesday, most mountains saw a mix of sunshine, clouds, and light snow showers with minimal snow accumulation.

On Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, the snow intensity has picked up a bit with 1-3 inches of accumulation for most northern and central mountains. This is not a lot of snow, but the consistency of snow and cool temperatures is important.

On Wednesday, this first storm will bring steady-ish snow throughout the morning, then at around noon, we should transition to no snow or just snow showers. Total snow accumulation from Tuesday, Tuesday night, and Wednesday morning should be in the 1-5 inch range for the northern and central mountains.

Storm #2: Wednesday afternoon - Thursday midday

Expect snow to begin on Wednesday evening and continue through Thursday morning to Thursday midday.

Most forecast models have trended upward with the snow forecast and also focused the snow from just north of the I-70 corridor to just south of the I-70 corridor to around Aspen. Watch this area for 6-10+ inches by Thursday mid-morning.

Another aspect of this storm will be a brief chance for winds from the east for areas east of the divide, which could lead to at least a couple of inches of snow for the eastern foothills and the eastern slopes of the Sawatch (areas around Buena Vista) and the eastern slopes of the Sangre de Cristo mountains. Also, some front range cities and suburban areas near the foothills could see some snow on Thursday morning.

Our in-house OpenSnow high-resolution WRF model shows a good chance for up to around 10 inches of snow (red colors) by Thursday mid-morning especially in the area just north and south of I-70.

And the CAIC high-resolution WRF model also shows a good chance for up to around 10 inches, and the focus of this model is even sharper with a lot of this higher-end snowfall hitting the I-70 corridor.

The secret to a happy snow life is low expectations, but at least with this storm on Wednesday night, I am allowing my expectations to become a bit higher as most of the recent modeling suggests higher-end snow totals in the 6-10 inch range.

Join me in Denver on Wed, Oct 26th!

It's TONIGHT! My presentation will be tonight, Wednesday, October 26th at the Bug Theater in Denver. Arc'teryx has generously covered the cost of the space so that 100% of the ticket price goes to support SOS Outreach, a wonderful non-profit helping youth to thrive. Tickets are $10 and include a free beer and a fresh coat of wax after the show (bring your skis/boards). The night's programming will include a talk by me with a live forecast about the upcoming storms and local tips to find powder. There will also be ski movies. Doors open at 600pm, enjoy a beer (or more:-), and we'll start around 700pm. See all the details. C'mon out and get stoked for the winter to come:-)

Extended Forecast

On Thursday afternoon and evening, we will dry out as our second storm of the week departs to the east.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

There is a high chance for completely dry weather during these six days from Friday through Wednesday. Temperatures will be cold enough for pretty efficient snowmaking at night and will likely rise to a bit above freezing during the day. With continued snowmaking, we will likely see another resort or two start spinning their lifts. 

Storm around November 3-4

The latest longer-range forecasts show a high likelihood for our next storm to arrive around Thursday, November 3. Below is the average of 51 versions of the European model, and the blue colors show the location of the storm.

When we dig into individual versions (rather than the average) of some of the models, we see that there is a chance that the storm will cut off from the main west-to-east flow of weather and slow down and dive to our south and west.

If this southwest detour occurs, and it did happen for last Sunday's storm, then it'll likely result in a storm that is a bit slower and doesn't arrive until around Friday, November 4. We'll see how it shakes out, but at this point, I am expecting mostly dry weather next week with the best chance of a storm around Friday, November 4. 

Thanks so much for reading!

JOEL GRATZ

PS - A few announcements are below.

Announcements

Upcoming In-Person Presentations

Join me for in-person presentations this fall. These talks are fun (yes, powder science IS fun:-), and I'll discuss thoughts about the upcoming season and snow forecasting tips and tricks. Also, your attendance at many of these talks supports a local non-profit, so thank you for coming!

  • Wed, Oct 26. Denver. Bug Theater (3654 Navajo St)
    - 600pm Doors Open
    - 700pm Presentation by Joel Gratz and ski films, too.
    - Tickets are $10 and 100% goes to SOS Outreach.
    - Tickets include a free beer and a fresh coat of wax after the show (bring your skis/boards)
    - More details

  • Thu, Nov 3. Boulder. Neptune Mountaineering (633 S Broadway)
    - 630pm Doors Open
    - 700pm Presentation by Joel Gratz
    - Raffle tickets sold to support SOS Outreach

  • Wed, Nov 9. Golden. Powder7 (880 Brickyard Cir)
    - 700pm Doors Open
    - 730pm Presentation by Joel Gratz

  • Fri, Dec 9. Basalt
    - Tentative date...standby for confirmation.

Forecast Anywhere

You can now get a forecast for any location (on land) across the globe, and you can save any of these "Custom Locations" as a favorite. 

Any "Custom Location" comes with estimated 24-hour snowfall. This means that you can set a "Custom Location" for your favorite backcountry spot and get estimated snowfall and estimated snowfall history. Since most backcountry areas do not have snow measurement equipment located at that exact spot, this feature will be a useful way to get a general estimate of how much snow has fallen.

To set your first "Custom Location", make sure that you are using the latest version of our iOS or Android apps (this works on our website, too!), then go to the Map tab, tap any spot on the map, and you're on the way to creating your first "Custom Location". You can learn more about Forecast Anywhere in this short how-to article.

Being able to get the forecast and save points as "Custom Locations" means that you can use our forecast data for any place you'd like to go - for backcountry skiing, camping, or even to see how much we think it'll snow in your backyard :-) And remember that "Custom Locations" works worldwide, so if you're traveling to a spot on the globe where we don't have a resort-based forecast (we have forecasts for many spots outside the US), go ahead and set up a "Custom Location".

And the last note is that "Custom Locations" are private and no other OpenSnow users will be able to see the "Custom Locations" that you create.

Please check out this new feature and let us know what you think

Snow Tires

In short, snow tires are amazing (I put my own last week). If you run snow tires in the winter, I bet you swear by them, and if you don't run snow tires in the winter, yes, they are expensive, but as a friend of mine said, they are less expensive than the increased chance of getting into an accident!

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

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.

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