We started Friday with 10-12 inches of new snow, and then we were watching for additional snow showers on Friday morning and midday with a high-side surprise possible thanks to a favorable wind from the west-northwest and a summit temperature of 5°F.

Well, it worked! The atmosphere delivered a quick 6 inches of fluffy snow on Friday morning, and then an additional 2 inches fell on Friday late evening.

As of Saturday morning, the snow is over and the storm total was around 18 inches. That's just what we needed, and some more terrain should open.

If you're heading out on Saturday, the day will start cold, around 0°F, and then by midday, we'll warm into the teens and 20s with clear skies.

Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday will be dry and sunny with high temperatures in the 30s.

Our next storm is still on track to arrive late on Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning, December 15th. The wind direction during a lot of this storm will be from the south, which is not good, but then eventually the wind will swing around to blow from the west, which is good. While the wind direction won't be ideal, there will be a lot of moisture heading our way, and this combination of a lot of moisture and a not-so-perfect wind direction makes me think that our snow accumulations will be moderate, in the 3-8 inch range. We'll dial in the forecast over the coming days.

After the storm on the 15th, all models show storms roaming around the western US. Will these systems track over Colorado and deliver a lot of snow? I don't know. But at least there's a chance!

Thanks for reading and please check back each morning for daily updates!

JOEL GRATZ
Meteorologist at OpenSnow.com

Snow conditions as of Saturday morning

New snow mid-mountain:
* 8” (24 hours Friday 500am to Saturday 500am)
* 2” (Overnight Friday 400pm to Saturday 500am)

New snow summit:
* 6” (24 hours Friday 500am to Saturday 500am)
* 2” (Overnight Friday 400pm to Saturday 500am)

Last snowfall:
* 18” Thursday Night to Friday (Dec 9-10)

Terrain
* 2 of 17 lifts
* 6 of 170 trails
* Latest update

Snowpack compared to the 30-year average:
* 87%

PS – Starting next week (on or around December 13), we are going to make some significant changes to OpenSnow. If you're an All-Access subscriber (thank you!), you'll see no changes. If you are not an All-Access subscriber, here is an FAQ with more details about the upcoming changes, and we hope that eventually, we'll earn your support.

Here is a 3-minute video that I made (with my son Levi) to introduce a few of the upcoming changes. Please watch the video to at least see what Levi has to say to everyone at the end (non of this was scripted/rehearsed and I'm surprised it worked out!). If you can't see the video embedded below, tap here.