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 February 5, 2023

Dry Sunday, snow Monday

Summary

Sunday will be dry and warm, then a storm on Sunday night will deliver 3-6+ inches of snow in time for Monday morning with snow showers lingering on Monday. After that, Tuesday and most of Wednesday will be dry, then the next storm will bring 3-6 inches of snow from late Wednesday into Thursday morning. And after that, we should see another storm during the middle of the following week.

Short Term Forecast

Saturday was mostly sunny across Colorado with high temperatures in the mid-20s to mid-30s, which was about 3-5 degrees cooler than on Friday.

Now on Sunday morning, the national radar shows rain and snow pushing over the west coast, and this is the storm that will bring snow to Colorado on Sunday night.

Ahead of the Sunday night storm, Sunday's weather will be partly-to-mostly sunny with high temperatures in the 30s, and this will be 3-5 degrees warmer than Saturday.

Snow will begin around Sunday night at midnight, and there should be a brief window of steady or even intense snow from Sunday at midnight through about Monday at sunrise. By Monday's first chair, most northern and central mountains should see 3-6 inches of snow accumulation.

During the day on Monday, lingering moisture, a northwest flow, and temperatures conducive to making fluffy snowflakes should keep snow showers going, though it's often difficult to pin down whether these showers will deliver just another 1-2 inches of snow accumulation or if a few spots will see 3-5+ inches of additional snow.

On Monday night, the snow will end for most mountains, and a brief push of winds from the northeast (as the storm dives to the south of Colorado) should bring snow to the southeastern mountains around Cuchara and also maybe to Wolf Creek.

Below is the total snowfall map from Sunday night to Tuesday morning. Comparing the map below to the map above, we can see that the most likely scenario is that most mountains see just light additional snow accumulation on Monday-day and Monday night.

Monday morning's conditions across the northern and central mountains should be fun with fresh snow skiing well on top of groomers and the soft snow on more northerly-facing slopes. Any additional snow showers on Monday should keep conditions soft and fun.

Extended Forecast

Following dry weather on Tuesday and most of Wednesday, the next storm will bring snow from late Wednesday afternoon through late Wednesday night. This system will be similar to the Sunday night storm as 3-6 inches is the most likely forecast with snow favoring the northern and central mountains and the best chance for low-end powder will be on Thursday morning. Then on Thursday, temperatures will be very cold, in the single digits above zero, and these cold temperatures should shut off most of the accumulating snowfall.

We should then see another few days of dry weather from Friday, February 10 to Sunday, February 12.

For the following week, it is likely to be stormy, with a lower chance for snowfall earlier in the week (February 13-14) and a higher chance for snowfall later in the week (February 15-17).

The graphic below shows the 51 versions of the European model and its trend toward stormier scenarios later next week, around February 15-17. Something to note is that the American GEFS' 31 versions yield a slightly higher chance for another storm in the February 13-14 range, so that'll be something to watch.

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

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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