On Friday, American Flyer will open with additional trails opening too. And with the upcoming snow from Sunday to Wednesday, I anticipate that (substantially?) more terrain will open by later next week.

Weatherwise…

Friday & Saturday

Both Friday and Saturday will be dry and warm. Temperatures will be in the 30s, skies will be partly cloudy, high clouds filter the sunshine at times, and winds could be gusty on Saturday afternoon.

Here is a look at some of the passing high clouds on Friday morning:

Storm #1: Sunday & Monday

Sunday should be dry for most of the day, and then snow will begin on Sunday afternoon/evening and continue through Monday morning.

A first-guess snow forecast for this time is 2-5 inches, but the favorable combination of a cold front, jet stream, and lots of moisture may push snow totals higher and there is a potential for 5-10 inches of accumulation nearby.

For timing, Monday morning should offer powder, and we'll have to see if we land in the mid-range totals of 2-5 inches, or if the atmosphere works its magic and delivers us 5+ inches of snow for a weekday powder day.

Storm #1: Tuesday & Wednesday

The second storm will bring snow from Tuesday through Wednesday night. The positive factors are a LOT of moisture and the long duration of the storm. The negative factors are warm temperatures (thicker snow) and a not-perfect wind direction from the west-southwest.

The combination should deliver 8-16 inches of snow, with snow ramping up on Tuesday, times of moderate-to-intense snow on Wednesday, and the storm ending by Wednesday night. 

For powder, there could be some new snow on Tuesday afternoon, there should be thicker powder on Wednesday, and then Thursday morning may be a good bet with clearing skies and fluffier snow from Wednesday night on top of a soft base.

One caveat with this system is that temperatures will be warm on Tuesday night and Wednesday, and this can keep the snow thick/dense, depress snow totals, and also create rain and not snow at the lowest elevations. Copper is at a high elevation, so precipitation will stay all snow for all of the mountain, though lower elevations throughout Colorado could see times of rain.

Longer Range

Following this storm cycle, I think a lot more terrain will open around or after Thanksgiving and into early December. Weatherwise, we'll likely see at least a week of drier weather after Thanksgiving, so it's great that our base will be built before the calm weather arrives.

My next update will be on Saturday morning.

Thanks for reading!

JOEL GRATZ
Meteorologist at OpenSnow.com

Snow conditions as of Friday morning

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

Last snowfall:
* 6” Monday Night & Tuesday (November 18-19)

Terrain
* 7 of 24 lifts
* 16 of 178 trails
* Latest update

Snowpack compared to the 30-year average:
* 133%