Most mountains have received 3-6 inches of snow during the day on Monday.

Winds have been gusty from the southwest. This high-elevation weather station near Silverton, at 12,852ft, measured gusts over 100mph each hour from 9am through 3pm.

The southwest flow on Monday was just the first part of the storm.

The second part will be a line of intense snow that will move across Colorado from west-to-east on Monday evening. This line of snow is being created by a cold front. The radar animation below is from 315-400pm.

As this intense snowfall moves across the state, expect road closures (highway 550 is already closed around Red Mountain Pass). These intense bands of snow can drop visibility to near zero due to heavy snow and strong wind, and it’s often the low visibility that creates accidents and road closures. The short-range, high-resolution models are showing this band breaking apart at times as it crosses Colorado, so a few mountains may receive the short end of the measuring stick.

An interesting feature about this cold front is that it will NOT shift the wind the wind direction very much. Winds will continue to blow from the southwest and west-southwest through Monday evening and into Tuesday morning, even after the front moves through.

This means that, after the intense band of snow passes and drops a quick 3-6 inches on Monday evening, the snowfall later on Monday night and early Tuesday morning should once again favor the southern and south-central mountains, with a potential lull in the northern mountains.

Tuesday morning should be a powder day at all mountains, with the deepest snow in the southern areas (12+ inches) and likely 5-10+ at most other areas. The snow quality should be a bit on the dense side due to the high winds, though as temperatures decrease on Monday night, the snow might become a big fluffier.

That’s not all…

Starting about mid-morning on Tuesday, as the storm moves further to our east, the wind direction will finally switch to blow from the west and eventually northwest. So, after lots of snow in the southern mountains on Monday, Monday night, and Tuesday morning, starting around mid-morning or midday Tuesday, the heavier snow showers should shift north and begin to focus on the northern mountains, some central mountains, and the north side of the southern mountains (Silverton, Telluride).

You can see the northwest flow kicking in for northern Utah already on Monday afternoon, and that should head toward Colorado by Tuesday afternoon.

The powder outlook for Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning is very interesting for the areas I just mentioned, which are favored by northwest flow. All the ingredients exist for deeper-than-expected snow totals, with super fluffy snow. However, in these situations, I cannot give high confidence of deep powder – I can only say that atmospheric conditions exist that could create deep, blower pow. In the areas favored by northwest flow, keep your eye on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning as potential deep, blower pow days. Scroll down to click back to my previous update on Monday morning for more information about this deep powder potential.

That’s all for now … I hope you’re enjoying this storm and ready to ski more pow this week!

JOEL GRATZ

Geography Key

Northern Mountains
Steamboat, Granby, Beaver Creek, Vail, Ski Cooper, Copper, Breckenridge, Keystone, Loveland, Abasin, Winter Park, Berthoud Pass, Eldora, Rocky Mountain National Park, Cameron Pass

Along the Divide
Loveland, Abasin, Winter Park, Berthoud Pass

East of the Divide
Eldora, 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