I hope everyone was able to get out and enjoy the fresh snow on Friday morning! I went for a short skin during the afternoon and the high March sun angle had already turned any remnants of fresh powder over to soft corn and mashed potatoes. If you weren't able to get out, don't fret as you will have multiple chances to catch soft turns over the next week!

Looking at the satellite imagery on Saturday morning, our late-week storm is well to our east but our next system is quickly making its way across Nevada and into Utah.  

Sunny skies will be the story for the first half of Saturday before clouds begin to increase from west to east during the afternoon. Temperatures will also reach into the upper 30s to low 40s so dress light and wear plenty of sunscreen. 

We should then see our first flakes begin to fly across western Colorado during the late afternoon. This will be followed by an increase in snowfall on Saturday evening and into the overnight hours. This system will feature numerous convective cells as it passes over Colorado so I do think some locations will only receive trace amounts, while others pick up a few inches in a short time. Periods of light snow will continue into Sunday morning before our skies begin to clear from west to east on Sunday afternoon. In general, look for 1-3 inches across the state from Saturday evening through Sunday afternoon but keep an eye on webcams to see if luck is on the side of your favorite locations. 

We'll receive another short break from Sunday night through midday Monday, with mostly clear skies and temperatures reaching into the 30s to low 40s on Monday.

Our next storm (#2) will then begin to make its presence felt by Monday afternoon. The models have been back-and-forth on the track of this system but they're beginning to come into agreement on the storm wrapping up just south of the Four Corners region. We'll need another day or two to increase confidence but this would push the best chances for healthy accumulations to central and southern Colorado through Tuesday and possibly to areas along and east of the divide into Wednesday. 

The graphic below is the latest University of Utah ensemble snow forecast for McClure Pass, which is located in central Colorado, just west of Aspen. 

The first arrow on the left is storm #1 on Saturday night, followed by storm #2 from Monday night through Wednesday, and storm #3 late in the week and into next weekend, April 1st and 2nd. We'll hold off on getting into storm #3 but snow is in cards for the first weekend of April.

As mentioned in the first paragraph, the high spring sun angle will quickly impact any fresh snow so make sure to get on it right away. 

Thanks for reading and have a great Saturday!

SAM COLLENTINE

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, 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