Snow has fallen on peaks over 12,000 feet a few times this week. I collected a few pictures that resorts have sent and also a reader picture from up on Torreys Peak this week.

 

Snow on the peaks

 

Source: Copper Mountain

 

Source: Telluride

 

Source: Jeremy Swanson

 

Source: Zach Hykan

 

The next 7 days: Things have changed

Earlier this week, the mid-range forecast for this weekend and especially next week looked very dry. I thought most mountains would be free of afternoon storms most of the time.

Well, as is often the case with a 5-7 day weather forecast, things changed.

Both the American GFS and European model show a somewhat drier weekend coming up (though still a few afternoon storms around), and then more moisture returning for next week.

Midday and afternoon showers are a good bet for a lot of next week, and there could even be some overnight or early morning rain depending on the exact timing of the moisture surges (there is NO way to forecast the timing of these moisture surges more than about 1-2 days out).

The following maps are from Weatherbell.com, showing the American GFS model’s forecast for moisture. Green shows above-average moisture, and you can see it returning to Colorado from the south next week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In short, expect a somewhat drier weekend and then a return to showers next week, with temperatures that are going to be warmer than this week.

 

Labor Day Weekend

Likely not a wash out, but hard to say if it’ll be dry or we’ll see our typical afternoon showers. Also, colder air will try to approach from the west at some point during the holiday or just after, so we’ll have to watch for that.

 

All-Access

If you’re getting excited about winter and are planning to chase powder starting in a few months, consider upgrading to an All-Access Pass for OpenSnow.

Being an All-Access member gives you access to our 10-day forecasts, time-lapse webcams for tracking exactly when fresh snow has fallen, the ability to receive custom alerts to know about upcoming powder days, and you can get the Colorado Daily Snow delivered directly to your inbox as soon as its published.

All of this costs just $19 for one full year (365 days). That’s about the same cost as a lunch at a resort, but the All-Access pass lasts all year!

I’d love to count you as an All-Access member, and you can find out more here: https://opensnow.com/user/register?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=dailysnow&utm_term=colorado&utm_campaign=2016-2017

 

Thanks for reading!

JOEL GRATZ

 

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