Wednesday and Wednesday night delivered more of the same with mostly cloudy skies and occasional snow showers with a bit of steadier snow falling around 4 pm on Wednesday. The mid-mountain snow stake shows about one inch of new snow by Thursday morning.

Now on Thursday morning, the clouds are breaking a bit with the full moon illuminating the landscape.

Thursday and Friday

A storm will track over southern Colorado on Thursday afternoon and strengthen to the southeast of Colorado on Thursday night into Friday morning.

Previously, I thought that this storm could generate a few inches of snow, but the latest forecast models show low amounts with the most snow falling east of the continental divide over eastern Colorado. 

So for us, we could see snowflakes on Thursday afternoon, Thursday night, and Friday, and maybe we'll eke out a coating to 2 inches. But in general, my expectation is now lower than it was yesterday.

Temperatures on Thursday will be in the 20s, and readings on Friday will be a little cooler with a high in the upper teens to low 20s.

Saturday, January 27 to Thursday, February 1

Most of the time from Saturday (January 27) to the following Thursday (February 1) will be dry, mostly sunny, and warmer with high temperatures in the 30s.

A wrinkle in this otherwise stellar forecast will come on Sunday (January 28) with more clouds and perhaps a few snow showers.

Otherwise, enjoy the sunshine, good visibility, and comfortable temperatures, and be mindful that there could be a melt/freeze crust that develops overnight (due to warm daytime temperatures and cool nighttime temperatures), so morning groomers or midday non-groomed trails may offer the best conditions.

Friday, February 2, and Beyond

All longer-range forecasts continue to show that we will transition into a stormier weather pattern across the western U.S. with thin clouds filtering the sunshine on Thursday, February 1, and then snow maybe returning as early as Friday, February 2. I have high confidence that there will be a storm around the Rockies heading into the weekend of February 3-4, and I have low confidence about the details of this storm. Stay tuned.

Thanks for reading!

JOEL GRATZ
Meteorologist at OpenSnow.com

Snow conditions as of Thursday morning

New snow mid-mountain:
* 1” (24 hours Wednesday 500am to Thursday 300am)
* 0” (Overnight Wednesday 400pm to Thursday 300am)

Last snowfall:
* 4” Sunday to Wednesday Night (Jan 21-25)

Terrain
* 22 of 23 lifts
* 146 of 157 trails
* Latest update

Snowpack compared to the 30-year average:
* 94%