Helpful Links

• Steamboat Snow Report
• Steamboat Cams
• Weather Radar (poor coverage around Steamboat!)

Conditions

• New Snow (Mid Mountain snow stake)
  • 0” Friday 500am to Saturday 500am (24 hours)
  • 0” Friday 500pm to Saturday 500am (12 hours)

• New Snow (Summit snow stake)
  • 0” Friday 500am to Saturday 500am (24 hours)
  • 0” Friday 500pm to Saturday 500am (12 hours)

• Last Snowfall
  • 4-6” Wednesday Night & Thursday (Jan 1-2)

• Snowpack
  • 102% of the 30-year median

• Terrain
  • 23 of 23 lifts
  • 173 of 184 trails

Saturday & Sunday

Saturday will be dry and mostly cloudy through midday with a high temperature in the mid-to-upper 20s.

On Saturday afternoon, snow will fall, and there could be a few inches of accumulation by the last chair. 

On Saturday night, snow will continue to fall and temperatures will cool, which should lead to 3-6 inches of fluffy accumulation.

On Sunday morning, I expect that there will be 4-8 inches of fluffy snow (the combination of snow from Saturday afternoon and Saturday night) and there should be 2-5+ inches of additional accumulation during the morning. 

The storm responsible for this snowfall will rapidly strengthen just to the east of Colorado, and this can lead to more snow than expected due to abundant moisture lingering behind the storm. The latest forecast data also shows that the temperature and wind direction will be close to ideal for Steamboat, so watch the snow stake cams for an upside surprise which could produce (a lot) more snow than I am forecasting.

On Sunday night and Monday, snow will continue to fall. Most forecast models show just lighter accumulations of 2-4 inches over this time, but again, amounts could be higher, especially near the upper mountain, so keep an eye on the snow stake cams.

Longer Range

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the next storm will bring snow to Colorado, but I think most snow will stay to the east and the south.

From Thursday, January 9 to Thursday, January 16, Colorado will be on the edge of the storm track, and significant snowfall is unlikely.

Starting on or after January 16, a few of the longer-range forecast models show a more favorable storm track for deeper snow totals, but that's about two weeks away, so we'll wait and hope but shouldn't get too excited just yet.

Tap below to see our forecasts:

• Steamboat Resort (9,500 ft)
• Buffalo Pass (10,200 ft)
• Rabbit Ears Pass (9,500 ft)
• Town of Hayden (6,400 ft)

My next update will be on Sunday morning.

Thanks for reading!

JOEL GRATZ
Meteorologist at OpenSnow.com