On Thursday, just a little bit of snow fell, and then on Thursday night, the storm delivered with 5-6 inches on the mid-mountain snow stake as of Friday morning.

We went into this storm hoping for 4-8 inches and so far, so good. By the end of the storm later on Friday, we'll likely exceed the upper estimate of 8 inches.

The snow that has fallen as of Friday morning is dense/thick due to warm temperatures. This is good news for building a base and for our water supply.

For the rest of Friday, temperatures will drop into the teens and single digits and we'll see continued snow showers. Also, I'm keeping a close eye on the snow stake because early on Friday morning, a wind from the northwest and a summit temperature of 10°F can lead to a high-side surprise in terms of snowfall. After about 9-10 am, the wind direction may shift to the west-northwest and the temperature could be a little too cold for a lot more snow, though we'll still see snow showers through the day. The most likely outcome for snow on Friday is an additional 2-6 inches on top of the 5-6 inches already on the stake.

Saturday will start cold, around 0°F, and then we'll warm into the teens and 20s with clear skies.

Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday will also be dry and sunny with high temperatures in the 30s.

Our next storm will arrive on Wednesday, December 15th. The track of this storm and the wind direction (both from the southwest) won't be ideal for a lot of snow, but with a lot of moisture pushing into Colorado, we may get into the 2-8 inch range. We'll dial in the forecast over the coming days.

Looking far into the future, there could be another storm between December 17-20. And the week leading up to Christmas will be stormy across the west – I have my fingers crossed that this western storminess will translate into snow for us in Colorado.

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

JOEL GRATZ
Meteorologist at OpenSnow.com

Snow conditions as of Friday morning

New snow mid-mountain:
* 5-6” (24 hours Thursday 500am to Friday 500am)
* 5-6” (Overnight Thursday 400pm to Friday 500am)

Last snowfall:
* 5-6” Thursday Night (Dec 9-10)

Terrain
* 8 of 23 lifts
* 27 of 155 trails
* Latest update

Snowpack compared to the 30-year average:
* 80%

PS – Thank you to the many people that joined me on Youtube Live on Thursday night. I answered about 40 questions and we took a deep dive into the details of the forecast for this storm. I'll hold another live session soon. Watch this space for an announcement.

PPS – Starting next week (on or around December 13), we are going to make some significant changes to OpenSnow. If you're an All-Access subscriber (thank you!), you'll see no changes. If you are not an All-Access subscriber, here is an FAQ with more details about the upcoming changes, and we hope that eventually, we'll earn your support.

Here is a 3-minute video that I made (with my son Levi) to introduce a few of the upcoming changes. Please watch the video to at least see what Levi has to say to everyone at the end (non of this was scripted/rehearsed and I'm surprised it worked out!). If you can't see the video embedded below, tap here.