We are enjoying a multi-part storm this week and the first part of the storm delivered snow from Sunday night through Tuesday morning. The majority of the snow totals (below) fell on Monday night and should be fresh now on Tuesday morning.

Northern Mountains

10” Cameron Pass
9” Steamboat (13” Summit)
4” Beaver Creek
4” Winter Park
3” Keystone
3” Vail
2” A-Basin
2” Breckenridge
2” Copper
2” Loveland

Central Mountains

18” Irwin
9” Powderhorn
8” Crested Butte
6” Aspen Highlands
5” Monarch
5” Sunlight
4” Snowmass
3” Aspen Mountain
2” Buttermilk

Southern Mountains

28” Wolf Creek
18” Purgatory
12” Silverton
8” Telluride

As of Tuesday morning, we are in a relative lull in the snow as the first part of the storm moved to the east of Colorado, and the second part of the storm is on its way and should arrive later in the day.

The national radar animation shows little action over Colorado this morning with one part of the storm to our east and northeast and the next part of the storm to our southwest.

Tuesday midday to Wednesday evening will be the second part of the storm. This second part of the storm will be stronger than the first part of the storm and there is a higher chance that all mountains will see significant snow will the deepest snow totals once again falling in the southern mountains.

On Tuesday afternoon and Tuesday night, there will be snow accumulations, so there could be powder to start the day on Wednesday, though the steadiest and most intense snow should fall during the day on Wednesday, so Wednesday should be fun with snow getting deeper throughout the day and snow that winds up deeper than what we see on the Wednesday morning reports.

Below is the total snow forecast for Tuesday, Tuesday night, and Wednesday, and a lot of this snow will fall on Wednesday during the day.

Accumulations by Wednesday evening should be 6-12 inches across most northern and central mountains and 12-30 inches across the southern mountains.

Also on Wednesday, the wind will be strong with gusts hitting 40-60 mph. This could impact lift operations and also cause difficult driving conditions due to low visibility during the more intense snow squalls.

Thursday could offer powder in the morning if enough snow falls after Wednesday afternoon (50/50 chance as it looks like the last of the steadier snow on Wednesday may end by late in the day) and there could also be powder on Thursday morning if any in-bounds terrain does not open on Wednesday due to lift closures or unmitigated avalanche risk. Otherwise on Thursday, we will likely see a relatively calm day with some snow showers and maybe some sunshine as well.

Friday and Saturday will bring another round of snow. While the forecast for this part of the storm is still uncertain, it's possible that steadier snow from later Friday into early Saturday could create some powder conditions for the last run on Friday or the first run on Saturday.

Sunday and Monday should bring yet another round of snow. And again, the forecast for this part of the storm is uncertain, though it is becoming increasingly likely that we'll see more snow from sometime Sunday to sometime Monday with powder possible late Sunday into early Monday.

For next week, the forecast is changing somewhat. Once the snow from Sunday into Monday ends, we should see dry weather from later Monday to Tuesday, and we might see drier weather during more of the week as the next storm may not bring snow to Colorado until late in the week or the following weekend (March 30 to April 2).

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