Sunday was a relatively quiet day around Colorado as most of the storm energy stayed just to our north. Many mountains did see clouds and snow showers, though snow accumulations were light, just a dusting to an inch.

Sunday night is when things started ramping up as a narrow band of moderate to intense snow formed over the far northern mountains and delivered 3-6 inches to Steamboat and nearby areas. We can see this narrow band of snow now early on Monday morning (the band seems to have a 'hole' in it over the mountains and this is due to poor radar coverage of this area).

From Monday morning to Tuesday afternoon, this narrow band of snow will move from north to south across Colorado.

Snowfall on Monday will favor the northern and central mountains. The forecast below is approximate and more snow could fall just north or south of what is shown.

Snowfall on Monday night will transition away from the northern mountains, will focus on the central mountains, and will get going over the southern mountains.

And snowfall on Tuesday will end for the northern and central mountains with the most snow falling over the southern mountains.

Total snowfall on Monday and Tuesday should be 4-8+ inches (if the band stalls or strengthens, snowfall could be higher than expected).

The best powder for the northern mountains should be Monday during the day as well as Tuesday's first chair, the best powder for the central mountains should be later Monday through Tuesday morning, and the best powder for the southern mountains should be on Tuesday.

Following the storm on Monday and Tuesday, we will have a three-day break of dry and sunny weather on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The high temperature on Wednesday should be around 20°F, and on Thursday and Friday, the high temperature should be in the 20s to nearly 30°F.

Then all of the longer-range forecast models continue to show a chance for three storms through mid-February.

The first potential storm around February 4-5 will likely be weaker with little snow or at least lower snow totals.

The second potential storm around February 6-8 will likely be stronger than the February 4-5 system.

And the third potential storm around February 12-14 could also be on the stronger end of the spectrum.

In the image above, each horizontal line shows one of 51 versions of the European weather forecast model, and the colors show the amount of precipitation during that period, with time going from left to right for the next 15 days. When most versions of the model show about the same amount of precipitation at about the same time, we can have higher confidence in the forecast.

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