Colorado Daily Snow

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By Joel Gratz, Founding Meteorologist Posted 7 years ago March 29, 2017

Storm wrapping up, two more in the forecast

Summary

Snowfall is ending on Wednesday morning. Most mountains picked up 3-6 inches on Tuesday and Tuesday night with the highest totals of 8-12 inches. Wednesday and Thursday will be mostly dry and sunny, then the next storm will bring snow on Friday into Saturday. After that, a second colder storm will likely bring snow on Tuesday into Wednesday.

Short Term Forecast

A storm to our south brought snow on Tuesday and Tuesday night, and for the most part I am happy with the forecast. While most snow reports are not yet published, here is what I can glean from webcams and SNOTEL stations for total snow between Tuesday morning and Wednesday morning.

  • East of divide (RMNP to Mt. Evans) 5-15”

  • Breckenridge 8”
  • Keystone 8”
  • Copper 6”
  • Abasin 5-6”

  • WP 5”
  • Loveland 4”
  • Vail 4”
  • Cooper 3-4”
  • Beaver Creek 2”
  • Steamboat 1-2”

  • Telluride 4-5” (plus 7” from Monday night)
  • Silverton 4-5” (plus 12” from Monday night)

  • Monarch 4”
  • Crested Butte 3”
  • Aspen 2-4”

I think solid amounts of snow fell at areas east of the divide based on radar, but SNOTEL sites aren’t confirming this so I’m a bit unsure.

Elsewhere, snow showers dropped an average of 3-6 inches, with the highest amounts coming from Summit County where two bursts of snow each dropped a quick 3-4 inches, amounting to 6-8 inches. Here is the snow stake cam at Breckenridge:

There should be fun snow to ski on Wednesday morning, but be aware of the sun which will quickly turn the medium-density powder to mush. Get after it early and focus on north-facing and shaded slopes!

Once the snow and clouds pull away on Wednesday morning, we’ll see dry weather on Wednesday afternoon through Thursday.

The next storm will then arrive on Thursday night and will bring snow through Saturday evening. This storm, once again, will dive to the south of Colorado and should bring the heaviest snow to the southern mountains and areas near and east of the divide. Temperatures will be similar to the current storm, so the snow quality should be medium density.

Here is the University of Utah ensemble forecast for Red Mountain Pass, between Telluride and Silverton. The forecast is for 30 inches from Friday through Sunday. Even if this forecast is 2x too high (which sometimes happens with this model), we would still expect 15 inches, which would be a great storm.

And below is the forecast for Berthoud Pass, with up to about 24 inches from Friday through Sunday. Again, even if this is 2x too high, we’d still expect about 12 inches, which would make Saturday a fun powder day.

At this point, I expect that Saturday will be the best powder day, with some pow on Friday and Sunday as well.

Extended Forecast

We will likely see a break in the snow for most of Sunday and Monday, then the next storm will arrive on Monday night and should bring snow through Wednesday morning. This storm looks colder than the last few storms, so we might be lucky enough to ski fluffy, light powder on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the snow!

JOEL GRATZ

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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

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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