Life is good when there’s mid-winter pow to enjoy in late April!

Here is a picture from Mary Jane taken yesterday (April 25) by my friend Brad Gilbert. Nice snow for any time of year, especially for late April, and especially since this picture was taken at 1pm on a pow day!

Snow showers continued on-and-off during the day on Tuesday, then another wave of snow moved through on Tuesday evening.

Here are the totals from Tuesday AM + Wednesday AM = Storm Total

• Loveland 5 + 6 = 11
• Winter Park 7 + 1 = 8
• Abasin 4 + 4 = 8

The Loveland snow stake camera shows the 6 inches that fell on Tuesday night, so there will be plenty of fun turns again on Wednesday morning!

The NCAR Ensemble forecasted about 5-9 inches from this storm in the northern mountains, and the reality was about 8-11 inches, so on the higher side.

Now on Wednesday clouds are covering the sky above most northern and central mountains, and while we may see a few breaks of sunshine during the day, I think we’ll see more clouds than sun as a new storm moves toward Colorado.

Expect snow to begin again on Wednesday evening and continue through Friday. Thursday should be a fun powder day with 4-8 inches and Friday morning should offer fresh snow as well.

Here is the NCAR Ensemble model for the northern mountains showing snow on Wednesday and Thursday. By Thursday evening we’re in the 4-8 inch range, and if the upcoming storm follows the pattern from the last storm, actual snow totals could be higher.

There will be another storm from later Friday through Sunday morning. The track and resulting snowfall is still quite uncertain. Abasin, Loveland, and Mary Jane (the three mountains still open) should receive another 3-6+ inches during this time, though the heaviest snow will likely fall east of the divide favoring backcountry areas. These backcountry areas could see good pow on Saturday (storm day) and Sunday (sunnier, clearer).

Next week the snow is not done … expect chances for powder on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, favoring Tuesday and Wednesday.

It appears that this stormy pattern will end around May 4-5th, with warmer weather after that. So, get the pow while you can during the next 7-8 days!

JOEL GRATZ