Steamboat Daily Snow

By Joel Gratz, Founding Meteorologist Posted 7 years ago April 6, 2018
Update
Report
On Thursday night, 2 inches of snow accumulated at the mid-mountain snow stake and I see 1.5 inches on the summit snow stake.
Snow Friday through Saturday morning
Expect 3-7 inches during this time, with steadier snow from Friday mid-morning through the afternoon, and showers continuing through Saturday morning. The rain/snow line should be around 8,000-9,000 feet, which would translate to dense, thick snow for most of the upper half of the mountain with rain closer to the base. The best times to find powder will be through the day on Friday and the first chair on Saturday morning.
Warming on Saturday
We could see a mix of sun, clouds, and showers on Saturday. Temperatures will warm into the 40s with a snow level rising to 10,000-11,000 feet, so only the upper 1/2 to upper 1/3 of the mountain could see snowflakes, with raindrops at lower elevations.
Intense precipitation Saturday night
This is a monster storm as measured by moisture, which will be about 400% of average for this date. Expect intense snow near the summit, and, I’m sorry to say, intense rain likely at the base. The rain/snow line should be between mid-mountain and the summit. The highest parts of the mountain could see 4-8+ inches. On Sunday morning, you will find fresh, dense snow near the summit, with less or little snow below that, and the most intense precipitation should be over.
Showers Sunday and Sunday night
We’ll see slightly cooler air on Sunday with a few inches of snow from midday and afternoon showers. Then colder air will arrive on Sunday night and we could have 2-6 inches of fluffier snow by Monday morning. It could be that Monday morning has the best snow quality.
Longer range
Steamboat will be open through Sunday, April 15th, and we’ll see more snow by then. The storm around April 11th has disappeared from the forecast (it will track to our north), but a colder storm should bring snow between Thursday night to Saturday midday, April 12-14. For Sunday’s closing day celebration, we might eke out dry weather, or another storm could arrive by then. Stay tuned…
Thanks for reading and stay tuned for an update each morning!
JOEL GRATZ, Meteorologist at OpenSnow.com
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