Thursday was an anxious day for me – I just couldn't wait for the dry weather to give way to snow as the strong weekend storm arrived in Colorado.

As of Friday morning at about 6:00 a.m., the first snowflakes are starting to fall and we should see snow right through Saturday morning or midday.

Friday will bring on-then-off snow throughout the day with 3-6 inches of accumulation. Temperatures will be warm and getting warmer, and by Friday afternoon and Friday evening, we could see rain at the base area and potentially the lower mountain as well.

Friday night into Saturday morning will bring intense snow and cooling temperatures. We should see 7-12 inches of snow by Saturday mid-morning, and due to the cooling temperatures, the snow quality could be a little better with fluffier snow on top of denser snow.

Saturday midday through Monday is a wildcard with more snow possible but I have low confidence in the details. Moisture and storm energy will linger over Colorado, and I think that the best chance for significant additional snowfall will stay south of Steamboat. But, it will be a close call. We should at least have snow showers during this time, and if we're lucky, a few inches (or more) of additional accumulation.

Tuesday should be a brief period of dry weather as we will be in between storms.

March 15-17 will be the time when we'll see our next storm. This storm should bring a lot of moisture, which can translate into a lot of snow if the storm energy tracks close to or over Colorado. Stay tuned.

In the distant future, it appears that the storm door will remain open and we could see more snow around March 20 and then later that week around March 22-24.

Thanks for reading!

JOEL GRATZ
Meteorologist at OpenSnow.com

Snow conditions as of Friday morning

New snow mid-mountain (from the snow stake):
* 0” (24 hours Thursday 500am to Friday 500am)
* 0” (Overnight Thursday 400pm to Friday 500am)

New snow summit (from the snow stake):
* 0” (24 hours Thursday 500am to Friday 500am)
* 0” (Overnight Thursday 400pm to Friday 500am)

Last snowfall:
* 3” Wednesday Night (Mar 8-9)

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

Snowpack compared to the 30-year average:
* 122%