Tuesday started sunny then wound up mostly cloudy as moisture moved over northern Colorado in advance of the next storm.

On Tuesday night, snow showers fell on the mountain.

Due to upcoming travel, I am writing this post later on Tuesday night, so I am not sure how much snow will have fallen by Wednesday morning, though my estimate is somewhere between a coating to a few inches. This could create a little bit of soft snow for Wednesday morning's first chair.

Then, there are NO changes to the forecast for the intense storm on Wednesday night.

Wednesday will be the lead-up to the storm with some clouds and snow showers with maybe light snow accumulation through mid-afternoon. We will also feel faster winds, especially on Wednesday afternoon. With some luck, there could be some powder by Wednesday's last chair.

Wednesday evening and night is when we'll see the main part of the storm move through with intense snow (1-2 inches per hour) and fast wind gusts of 40-60+mph. This could cause low visibility and temporary road closures.

By Thursday morning, I expect 4-9 inches of wind-affected powder from Wednesday night's snowfall. If you head out on Thursday to enjoy the new snow, dress warmly as temperatures will likely be colder than 0°F for the entire day and the wind could still be gusty at 20-40mph.

After Thursday, we will likely see additional storms and light snow on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and maybe into Monday. My confidence in the snow forecast for Friday to Monday continues to be low, though with adequate moisture in the air and multiple pieces of storm energy moving near or over the mountain for 72 hours, we should see accumulating snowfall and might sneak out some soft conditions and maybe even powder if things go perfectly.

Looking further into the future, Monday and Tuesday should be mostly dry, then storms will return starting around December 28th, and chances for snow will continue into the new year.

Thanks for reading! 

JOEL GRATZ
Meteorologist at OpenSnow.com

Snow conditions as of Wednesday morning

New snow mid-mountain:
* 2” (24 hours Tuesday 500am to Wednesday 500am)
* 2” (Overnight Tuesday 400pm to Wednesday 500am)

New snow summit:
* 3” (24 hours Tuesday 500am to Wednesday 500am)
* 3” (Overnight Tuesday 400pm to Wednesday 500am)

Last snowfall:
* 2” Tuesday Night (Dec 20-21)

Terrain
* 15 of 21 lifts
* 155 of 171 trails
* Latest update

Snowpack compared to the 30-year average:
* 124%