There are a few snow showers roaming around Steamboat on Wednesday morning, and I expect this to continue throughout the day, along with a few breaks of sun and a gusty windy. These snow showers will fall ahead of a cold front that will not reach Steamboat until late Wednesday night.

As the cold front passes on Wednesday night, expect a period of heavier snow from late at night through Thursday morning. Then snow showers will continue through the day on Thursday, Thursday night, and Friday. It’s hard for me to pick out a time when the snow could fall more heavily, though the combination of a wind from the west (favorable for Steamboat) and energy lingering over northwestern Colorado point toward Friday morning as the time when you might find the softest and deepest powder.

After this storm moves through, the weekend will be a mix of sun, clouds, a few snow showers, and temperatures in the low 20s. Then a powerful storm should swing through Colorado early next week, and Steamboat could see the heaviest snow from late Monday through Tuesday.

JOEL GRATZ, Meteorologist at OpenSnow.com