We have powder in the rear-view mirror and a lot more coming in front of us!

Looking back, the fast-moving storm on Friday night into Saturday (March 8-9) dropped 3-6 inches of snow as we expected. I hope that you enjoyed the new snow to start the weekend.

Now looking ahead, it’s going to be a great week with multiple powder days likely and snow every day from Monday, March 11 through Thursday, March 14.

The first part of the storm, from Monday through Tuesday, will be warm with a southwest wind. The snow level could be in the range of 9,500 – 10,500 feet, so we could see rain on parts of many mountains. Where snow does fall, amounts could be significant, upwards of 6-12 inches at the highest elevations. The precipitation will be showery, so it’s possible that a few mountains get hit with a lot of snow and others see much less.

The second part of the storm from Tuesday night through Thursday afternoon will be colder and should offer the best powder. Temperatures will rapidly cool on Tuesday night as a storm strengthens over southeast Colorado and western Kansas. This storm position will allow a northwest wind to wrap moisture back around into northern New Mexico through Wednesday and likely even into Thursday.

The best powder should be on Wednesday, and if the snow hangs on through Wednesday night, Thursday morning’s snow could be deep and fluffy as well.

Total accumulations from Monday through Thursday should be in the 12-24 inch range, though remember that the snow on Monday and Tuesday will be dense and confined to the highest elevations while Wednesday and Thursday’s snow will be colder, fluffier, and will fall across the mountain with no worries about rain as the temperatures will be colder.

Enjoy this week’s snow, and then look for a break in the snow with about one week of dry weather between roughly March 15-22. After that, a stormy pattern may return for the western United States.

Thanks for reading!

My next update will be on Thursday, March 14.

JOEL GRATZ

Compare the snow reports for all mountains in New Mexico here (reports will update when mountains open for the season):
https://opensnow.com/state/nm#reports

Compare the 1-5 day forecast for all mountains in New Mexico is here:
http://opensnow.com/state/nm