I love the anticipation of snow storms, and the next one is on our doorstep.

Following a dry day on Thursday, clouds will thicken on Thursday night and light snow should begin to fall.

Then on Friday, light-to-moderate snow should fall through the afternoon. The wind direction during this part of the storm will be from the west-southwest, which is not super favorable for snow at Copper. Plus, the temperature during early Friday will be on the warmer side, which is also not super favorable for deep accumulations. Whatever snow we get before about 3 pm on Friday will be a bonus, likely a couple of inches.

Then sometime between 3-5pm on Friday afternoon, a cold front will hit Copper and there will be a very intense period of snow with 1-2 inch-per-hour snowfall rates. This, along with gusty winds, could close sections of I-70 due to accidents and low visibility. You might want to avoid driving during this time.

Then on Friday evening, we'll see another few hours of snow with a favorable wind from the northwest and cooling temperature. The flakes should come to an end around midnight on Friday night.

Storm total accumulations should be in the 6-12 inch range. As for skiing powder, there should be some fresh snow on Friday midday/afternoon, and then there will be fresh powder on Saturday morning IF it is not groomed on Friday night.

Thanks for reading and check back each morning for an updated forecast!

JOEL GRATZ, Meteorologist at OpenSnow.com