We have about 83% of trails open, which is pretty good for a below-average snowpack.

Weatherwise, we saw a few flakes on Wednesday night, and coming up Thursday and Friday, expect dry weather, high temperatures in the 30s, and some clouds around each day.

The next storm will deliver snow starting sometime on Saturday, with perhaps showers in the morning and midday, and then steadier snow on Saturday afternoon, Saturday night, and/or into early Sunday. Temperatures on Saturday will be in the 20s and highs on Sunday will be in the teens.

For Saturday and Saturday night, I think that the most intense snow might just miss us to the east, so we will likely wind up on the lower end of my earlier 4-9-inch forecast range. That said, this storm will bring a LOT of moisture, and more moisture means higher snowfall potential, and if any band of intense snow happens to hit the mountain, we will zoom to the higher end of the forecast range.

Then on Sunday, as the storm strengthens east of Colorado, we will see clouds and snow showers hang around, though the wind direction from the northwest or north-northwest is not favorable for an upside surprise (we want a wind from the west-northwest or the west).

The softest/deepest snow should be on Sunday morning due to the new flakes on Saturday night.

After this storm, we will likely see drier weather with low chances for snow during the December 25-31 time frame, and then I continue to see somewhat higher chances of snow during the first few days of January, but that's still 10+ days away, so the forecast will change, and let's just hope for the best.

Thanks for reading!

JOEL GRATZ
Meteorologist at OpenSnow.com

Snow conditions as of Thursday morning

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

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

Last snowfall:
* 3” Sunday Night (Dec 10-11)

Terrain
* 17 of 23 lifts
* 151 of 181 trails
* Latest update

Snowpack compared to the 30-year average:
* 82%