Helpful Links

• Copper Snow Report
• Copper Cams
• Weather Radar

Conditions

• New Snow (Mid Mountain snow stake)
  • 0” Monday 500am to Tuesday 500am (24 hours)
  • 0” Monday 500pm to Tuesday 500am (12 hours)

• Last Snowfall
  • 2” Sunday (December 15)

• Snowpack
  • 121% of the 30-year average

• Terrain
  • 18 of 23 lifts
  • 115 of 160 trails

Tuesday

On Tuesday and Tuesday night, a storm will track over the northern mountains of Colorado. As of Tuesday morning, there are snowflakes in the air.

I think we'll see 1-3 inches of accumulation with most of the snow falling from Tuesday midday through Tuesday evening, and this might soften conditions a bit for Tuesday afternoon and/or Wednesday morning. The temperature on Tuesday will be in the low 20s.

Tuesday Evening and Wednesday Morning

On Tuesday evening, the jet stream will be overhead and this should create a narrow band of intense snow. If this snow hits, then accumulations will be 3-4+ inches, but most forecast models now show this band of snow just missing the mountain and staying to the north and east, so accumulations may come in on the lower side. It'll be close.

Whatever snow falls on Tuesday evening will be enjoyable to ride on Wednesday morning when the skies should be clearing and morning temperatures will be in the upper teens.

Wednesday to Monday

From Wednesday, December 18, to Monday, December 23, expect dry weather, partly sunny skies, and warmer high temperatures in the mid-30s.

Longer Range

We'll see three chances for snow during the final seven-ish days of December. 

• December 23-24: A storm could bring a few flakes as it mostly tracks to our north.
  
  
• December 24-26: This storm could produce low-to-moderate accumulations.
  
  
• December 28-31: This storm has a higher chance of delivering deeper snow totals.

While it's nice to see three potential storms in the forecast, these storms will be fighting to break through an unfavorable weather pattern, so the odds are still somewhat low that any of these storms will bring significant snow.

Tap below to see our forecasts:

• Copper Mountain (11,300 ft)
• Vail Pass (11,000 ft)
• I-70 Daily Snow

My next update will be on Wednesday morning.

Thanks for reading!

JOEL GRATZ
Meteorologist at OpenSnow.com