Wednesday will be the final day of warm and dry weather. Expect highs in the 40s and 50s with partly to mostly cloudy skies.

The next storm will arrive on Thursday, but it might not start with a bang. Instead, we could see a few showers during the day, with perhaps heavier precipitation during the midday and afternoon hours. Then on Thursday evening and Thursday night, the storm will strengthen over eastern Colorado, and this should create a strong wind from the northwest that will drag colder air over Copper, along with potentially heavier snow. My estimate at this point is for about 4-8 inches of snow by Friday morning, but there is MASSIVE uncertainty about exactly where the storm will be located and how much snow and cold air will wrap around behind the storm. If you’re excited for powder, my suggestion is to ski Friday morning and be ready for anything from a few inches to a bigger dump up to 12 inches if everything comes together perfectly.

Any lingering snow and clouds should dissipate by Friday afternoon, and then Friday night and Saturday will be dry. More snow will arrive on Saturday night and Sunday with totals perhaps around 2-4 inches. And, the longer-range forecast for the last week of March and first week of April shows chances for storms every few days, so don’t put away the powder skis just yet!

JOEL GRATZ, Meteorologist at OpenSnow.com