I apologize for my late update on Thursday morning. I am traveling and unexpectedly did not have internet connectivity during a window of time when I thought that I would have it.

Wednesday Night

While the storm brought the deepest snowfall to areas east of Steamboat and east of the continental divide, the mid-mountain snow stake picked up a respectable 7 inches.

Thursday

The main story on Thursday will be strong winds. A wind from the east can cause gusty conditions, and as I type this at 945am, the summit weather station shows gusts to 55-60 mph. Multiple lifts and gondolas are closed, and with the wind forecasted to stay gusty all day, I am doubtful that many lifts/gondolas will reopen. If you're out on Thursday, the weather will be mixed with some sun, some clouds, some snow showers, and a temperature in the 20s.

Friday to Wednesday

From Friday through Wednesday, the current storm will stall well to our southwest and the weather will be mostly dry with high temperatures in the 30s. If pieces of storm energy rotate into Colorado, we may see more clouds and a few snow showers at any time.

Thursday, March 21 through the end of March

During the final 10 days of March, we should flip from drier weather to stormier weather. While it will likely not snow every day from March 21-31, all of the longer-range forecast data suggests that multiple storms will bring snow to Colorado during this 10-day window. I will provide more forecast details when the data aligns, but for now, there is no alignment about the timing or the strength of these storms, so we'll have to wait a little longer to figure it out.

My next update will be Friday morning.

Thanks for reading!

JOEL GRATZ
Meteorologist at OpenSnow.com

Snow conditions as of Thursday morning

New snow mid-mountain (from the snow stake):
* 7” (24 hours Wednesday 500am to Thursday 500am)
* 7” (Overnight Wednesday 500pm to Thursday 500am)

New snow summit (from the snow stake):
* 7” (24 hours Wednesday 500am to Thursday 500am)
* 7” (Overnight Wednesday 500pm to Thursday 500am)

Last snowfall:
* 9” Tuesday Night to Wednesday Night (Mar 12-14)

Terrain
* 10 of 23 lifts
* 150 of 181 trails
* Latest update

Snowpack compared to the 30-year average:
* 114%