After a mostly dry day on Saturday, a surprise 6.5 inches accumulated during a short window on Saturday night. I expected an inch or two overnight, but not 6.5 inches and I honestly have no idea how we received that much snow because there was not a lot of moisture or energy crossing over northern Colorado. It’s chilly out there on Sunday morning with a temperature close to 0F, so bundle up and enjoy the fresh pow along with mostly sunny skies.

Clouds and snow showers should return on Sunday night and Monday, then heavier snow should fall from Monday evening through Tuesday night. Total snowfall from this storm should be in the 6-12 inch range, though there is significant upside potential on Tuesday due to a stalled cold front that should be close to Steamboat, as well as cold west and northwest flow on Tuesday night which often delivers deeper-than-expected snowfall. The best powder days should be Tuesday all day and Wednesday first chair.

Following this system, the storm track will retreat to the north of Colorado for about the first 10 days of March. This could produce times of clouds and snow showers for Steamboat, though I think any snow that does fall will result in just light accumulations.

JOEL GRATZ, Meteorologist at OpenSnow.com