I-70 Daily Snow

Summary

All mountains are reporting fresh snow on Friday morning and the conditions will only get better as the day goes on. Icy and snow-packed road surfaces will be encountered through Friday night before becoming mostly clear and dry through the remainder of the holiday weekend. Weak storm possible next Tuesday/Wednesday before a stronger storm moves in on January 19th and 20th.

Short Term Forecast

We're back in business as we head into the holiday weekend as all mountains are receiving another round of healthy totals Friday morning on top of what fell on Wednesday night.

I skied Copper Mountain for a few hours on Thursday morning and I must say, the conditions were fantastic. Below is a photo that I took while lapping the Sierra Lift just after 9:30 am.

There were a few sharks (rocks) lurking below the fresh snow but the turns were very good nonetheless!

Back to our current weather and conditions on Friday morning, all mountains are reporting anywhere from 1-7 inches. Additional snow has already fallen since the 5 am reports so it's only getting better ahead of first chair. 

I-70 Reports: http://opsw.co/i70reports

Moderate to heavy snow will continue to fall through midday Friday, with an additional 4-8 inches for all mountains. The Summit County resorts have been favored on Friday morning but Vail should receive sneaky good totals as our wind shifts to blowing out of the northwest by 10 am. 

Icy and snow-packed road surfaces are also now in place from west of Georgetown through Vail. The passenger traction law has also been put in place by CDOT so make sure your vehicle is equipped with snow tires, AWD/4WD, and/or chains if you're traveling on Friday. 

CDOT Alerts: http://opsw.co/cdotalerts

Following the fun through midday Friday, scattered showers will take over on Friday afternoon and into Friday night. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday will then be dry and partly to mostly sunny. Temperatures will be in the 20s each day, with overnight lows in the teens.

For travel, all road surfaces will become clear and dry on Saturday and remain that way through early next week. Heavy traffic will be encountered in both directions this weekend so give yourself plenty of extra travel time. 

Extended Forecast

Our next chance for snow will then be in-store for next Tuesday and into Wednesday but totals will be light. This system will then be followed by a stronger storm around next Friday and Saturday, January 19th and 20th. Even though this is still 7 days away, I have fairly high confidence for healthy totals.

Looking further ahead, the storm door will be left wide open for the final 10 days of January. This does not mean that we'll receive snow every day but we'll be in very good shape for healthy totals. 

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pow!

SAM COLLENTINE

Announcements

Snow Forecast & Reports: Denver I-70

Find the CDOT passenger vehicle traction laws by clicking HERE.

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