Friday was a deep powder day with 17 inches from the previous 24 hours and 11 inches falling during the 12 hours on Friday. Wow! What a fun day on Friday! There were terrain closures due to all of the snow, and this isn’t out of the ordinary for a storm like this as it was just too much snow and avalanche risk for the patrol to effectively manage.

On Friday night, we saw an additional 4 inches of snow.

Now on Saturday morning, the storm is over and we’ll have a day of dry weather. There will be leftover powder to enjoy, and likely slow-to-open terrain as patrol works to mitigate the avalanche hazard. Get out there early to find the powder as temperatures will rise into the upper 20s to low 30s with possible sunshine, and this means that the snow could turn thicker by late morning and midday on slopes that are not treed and face east, south, and west. The north-facing and treed slopes should continue to ski very well.

The next storm will bring cooler temperatures and snow on Saturday night through Monday. The multi-model average forecast shows about 4-8 inches with possible moderate powder on both Sunday and Monday morning.

While this might not sound that amazing, especially after a 32-inch storm, the upcoming system has a few things going for it. First, snow will fall on top of an already soft and deep base. Second, temperatures will be colder, so the snow should be pretty fluffy. And third, we could potentially double this forecasted snow amount because the combination of the jet stream at 30,000 feet, a cold front stalled over the area, and plenty of moisture has historically led to some high-end surprises. Watch the mid-mountain snow stake cam closely and keep your eye on Sunday and Monday for potentially sneaky powder days!

Later this week and next weekend, we should see storms move close to Colorado, and it’s just too soon to know if these systems will bring us a lot of snow, some snow, or not much snow. I’ll let you know when I know!

Thanks for reading and check back each morning for daily updates!

JOEL GRATZ
Meteorologist at OpenSnow.com
Contact me: [email protected]

Snow conditions as of Saturday morning

New snow mid-mountain:
* 15” (24 hours Friday 500am to Saturday 500am)
* 4” (Overnight Friday 400pm to Saturday 500am)

Last snowfall:
* 32” from Wednesday to Saturday (Feb 5-8)

Terrain
* 19 of 23 lifts
* 112 of 149 trails
* Latest update

Snowpack compared to the 30-year average:
* 124%