Colorado Daily Snow

Heads up, there may be fresher snow! Read the latest Colorado Daily Snow

By Joel Gratz, Founding Meteorologist Posted 6 years ago April 29, 2017

Storm is in progress

Update

Our current storm began to drop snow on Friday afternoon, and now on Saturday morning snow continues to fall across all of Colorado.

First, here are snow totals between Friday afternoon and Saturday morning:

  • North side of Pikes Peak (SNOTEL) 12”
  • Echo Lake near Squaw Pass (SNOTEL) 10”
  • Eldora (SNOTEL) 4-6”
  • Loveland 4.5”
  • Abasin 4”
  • Winter Park 3”
  • Purgatory 2”

So far I feel pretty good about the forecast, which called for the heaviest snow to fall east of the divide.

Now on Saturday morning, the national radar shows that our storm is affecting a massive part of the country with snow over Colorado, New Mexico, and western Kansas, and heavy rain extending east to the mid-Atlantic:

Zooming in on Colorado, radar shows that the steadiest snow is falling east of the divide, with more showery snow over the western mountains.

Snow will continue through Saturday at about midnight. The heaviest snow will fall east of the divide (3-6”+) with more showery snow west of the divide, perhaps added up to a few inches. Here is the NAM-WRF 3km high-resolution model for snow through Saturday evening:

Saturday will be a cold day, especially near and east of the divide where mountain temperatures will be in the teens. This will keep the snow soft and cold.

Clouds will clear late on Saturday night, and Sunday will be sunny and warmer. If you’re skiing on Sunday, get after the snow as early as possible before the sun turns the powder to mashed potatoes.

As of the 20+ inches of snow this week was not enough, it looks like the northern mountains will get more snow showers starting on Sunday evening, and the snow will last through Wednesday. I expect another 3-6”+ during this time so there could be more lift-serviced powder at Abasin and Loveland on Monday, Tuesday, and/or Wednesday. Wednesday morning might be the deepest and softest day.

After that, next Thursday through Sunday, May 7th looks dry and warmer for the entire state.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pow!

JOEL GRATZ

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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