Wednesday was both a soft and a cold day. Snow showers during the day added a coating to an inch across the mountain, and the main story was the temperature which stayed in the -5°F to +°5F range.

On Wednesday night, the snow stopped and the clouds cleared.

For Thursday, cold morning temperatures near 0°F will warm into the teens under sunny skies and it’ll feel much more comfortable.

For Friday and Saturday, we’ll see sunshine each day and temperatures will be warmer, topping out in the upper 20s to low 30s.

On Saturday night, the next storm will arrive over northern Colorado, and we should see a coating to a few inches of snow from Saturday night through Sunday. This is a sneaky storm with no single positive factor, but a bunch of marginal factors could line up to bring us more snow than expected with possible soft turns on Sunday.

Once the Sunday storm moves away, another storm will be right on its heels and will move into Colorado on Monday. Initially, on Monday, a wind from the southwest will not be favorable for snow, so expect just light snow amounts on Monday into Monday night.

Then on Tuesday as the storm moves through Colorado, the wind direction will become more favorable from the west and northwest and we’ll have a higher chance for steady and significant snow on Tuesday into Tuesday night.

My initial estimate for a storm total accumulation is in the 4-8 inch range, though this could go higher. The softest turns could be on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Looking out into the first week of the new year, more storms will likely track through the Rockies at least every few days which is good news and could lead to very good conditions.

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

JOEL GRATZ
Meteorologist at OpenSnow.com

Snow conditions as of Thursday morning

New snow mid-mountain:
* 1” (24 hours Wednesday 500am to Thursday 500am)
* 0” (Overnight Wednesday 400pm to Thursday 500am)

Last snowfall:
* 4” Tuesday Night to Wednesday (Dec 22-23)

Terrain
* 17 of 23 lifts
* 82 of 152 trails
* Latest update

Snowpack compared to the 30-year average:
* 81%