After a sunny powder day on Wednesday, 5-6 inches fell during late Wednesday afternoon and early Wednesday evening, so there should be plenty of fresh stashes on the hill for first chair on Thursday morning. Enjoy the new powder and dress warm as temperatures will start the day around 0F near the summit.

Clouds and light snow will develop on Thursday afternoon. Times of light to moderate snow should continue on Thursday night and through the day on Friday. While a wind direction from the southwest is not ideal for snowfall at Steamboat, this storm should push energy directly over the ski area, and this could counter the bad wind direction. All of this means that I am forecasting modest amounts of snow from Thursday afternoon through Friday afternoon (3-6 inches), but if we get lucky and the energy overwhelms the bad wind direction, we could easily see more snow than this forecast. Do your snow dance and have a great time in Steamboat enjoying this white Christmas!

JOEL GRATZ
Meteorologist at OpenSnow.com