Copper Mountain Daily Snow
By Joel Gratz, Founding Meteorologist Posted 5 days ago January 3, 2025
Dry and warm on Friday, new snow on Sunday
Summary
Friday will be mostly sunny and warm, Saturday will deliver snow during the afternoon, and Sunday could be a powder day.
Update
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Conditions
- New Snow (Mid Mountain snow stake)
- 7” Thursday 500am to Friday 500am (24 hours)
- 0” Thursday 500pm to Friday 500am (12 hours)
- Last Snowfall
- 15” Wednesday to Thursday (Jan 1-2)
- Snowpack
- 130% of the 30-year average
- Terrain
- 23 of 23 lifts
- 131 of 160 trails
Storm Recap
The storm from Wednesday night through Thursday delivered 15 inches of snow across the mountain, with a 2-inch-per-hour snowfall rate on Thursday morning between 500 am and 830 am.
This higher-than-expected snow total likely occurred due to a narrow band of intense snow created by the jet stream being overhead. Going into the storm, there was a possibility for this to happen, but it was impossible to know if this band of intense snow would hit the mountain or stay just to the north. Well, it all worked out splendidly!
Friday
Friday morning will start with an inversion as the temperature is colder near the base and warmer (20s) at the summit.
Friday will be dry, sunny, and warmer with a high temperature of 30-35°F.
Saturday & Sunday
Saturday will be dry and mostly cloudy through midday with a high temperature in the mid-to-upper 20s.
On Saturday afternoon, snow will fall, and there could be some accumulation by the last chair.
On Saturday night, snow will continue to fall and temperatures will cool, which should lead to 2-5 inches of fluffy accumulation.
On Sunday morning, I expect that there will be 3-6 inches of fluffy snow (the combination of snow from Saturday afternoon and Saturday night) and there might be some more accumulation during the morning.
The storm responsible for this snowfall will rapidly strengthen just to the east of Colorado, and this can lead to more snow than expected due to abundant moisture lingering behind the storm, cooling temperatures, and a favorable wind from the northwest. That said, sometimes this situation leads to more snow just to the west and east of Copper, so I am not sure that Copper will get lucky two storms in a row.
To summarize, there should be fluffy powder on Sunday morning with 3-6 inches being the most likely range, though, watch the snow stake cam to see if there is an upside surprise.
Sunday's temperature will be in the teens - not too cold, not too warm.
Longer Range
Monday should be mostly cloudy with snow showers and a high temperature in the teens.
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday will also have high temperatures in the teens. There could be snow showers each day, though I do not expect significant snowfall.
The next chance for more significant snow could be around Sunday, January 12 through about Wednesday, January 15. This is two weeks away, so the storm is still uncertain. Stay tuned.
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My next update will be on Saturday morning.
Thanks for reading!
JOEL GRATZ
Meteorologist at OpenSnow.com
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