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Forecast

The resorts along the I-70 mountain corridor are reporting 6-15 inches on Saturday morning, with Breckenridge once again leading the charge with 5 inches on Friday night and 15 inches over the past 24 hours!

Click HERE for the full rundown of snow reports for the I-70 mountain corridor.

The powder party will now continue on Saturday and into Sunday as waves of heavy to intense snowfall target the I-70 mountain corridor. A bucket of moisture is combining with the core of the jet stream to bring us this phenomenal multiday storm cycle.

The transition period will then come when the core of the jet stream dips further to our south on Saturday night and much colder air pushes into Colorado from the north. This should bring us at least a few inches of fluffy snow on top of the "denser" snow that we've received over the past 36-48 hours.

Periods of moderate to heavy snow will fall through early Sunday morning before light snow showers take over for the rest of Sunday and into Sunday night. Drier conditions will then prevail through Monday and this will remain the story through at least Wednesday.

In total, expect an additional 4-8 inches through Saturday afternoon, followed by an additional 2-5 inches from Saturday night through Sunday. This will bring many areas to upwards of 2-3 FEET since the party began on Thursday!

Daytime highs will be in the 20s on Saturday, teens on Sunday, single-digits on Monday, teens on Tuesday, before finally rising back into the upper 20s beginning on Wednesday. 

Travel

All road surfaces are completely snow-packed from west of Georgetown through Avon on Saturday morning. Snow-packed conditions will continue through Saturday night and into Sunday morning so expect very slow travel speeds, accidents, and subsequent road closures.

As we saw on Friday and more of what we'll see on Saturday, waves of heavy to intense snowfall (1-2+ inches/hour) will continue and even though CDOT will do there best to clear the roads, travel will remain difficult through Saturday night. Plan to give yourself a lot of extra travel time and remember to keep a close eye on CDOT and our I-70 cams for the latest updates.

The road conditions will begin to improve through Sunday night and into Monday but sub-zero to single-digit temperatures will keep icy and snow-packed spots in place through Monday. Drier and mostly clear road surfaces will then return on Tuesday, with travel flowing along at normal speeds.

Looking further ahead, we could see something around Thursday, December 19th but nothing overly strong that would have a significant impact on travel or a return to powder skiing. 

Following more dry days over the weekend of Saturday, December 21st and Sunday, December 22nd, all longer-range models continue to provide the Western US with another stormy pattern through the week of December 23rd. As always, we'll dial in the details as we get closer.

Thanks for reading, travel safe, and stay tuned!

SAM COLLENTINE

OpenSnow Apparel

We have special edition OpenSnow apparel that is available to buy only for a limited time! The pop-up shop includes a “Dreaming of Powder” T-Shirt (photo above), an OpenSnow-branded Beanie, Hoodies, and Athletic Apparel. Order by December 18th for delivery in January 2020.

Link to Order → opsw.co/OSApparel

I-70 Snow Forecasts & Reports

Arapahoe Basin

Beaver Creek

Breckenridge

Copper Mountain

Echo Mountain

Keystone

Loveland

Vail

Winter Park

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Snow Tires & Traction

When a "Code 15" of the Chain Law is in effect, all vehicles must have one of the following in order to proceed:

1) Snow tires with a minimum of 3/16” of tread; or
2) All-weather tires with a mud and snow (M/S) mark with 3/16” of tread; or
3) Four-wheel drive with 3/16” of tread; or
4) Traction devices (chains, auto-sock, etc.) for two-wheel-drive tires.

I can't recommend snow tires enough. It's not only for your own safety and peace of mind but for the other travelers around you. Visit CDOT.com for more information and their Tires & Chains FAQ.