Reminder: This season is starting with a much lower snowpack compared to the average and compared to last season, and the ski area is not yet open. Telluride plans to open on December 2, 2023 (latest update here).

Wednesday was partly sunny and dry with a high temperature in the upper 20s to low 30s.

Now on Thursday, it'll be the calm before the storm. We'll see partly-to-mostly cloudy skies throughout the day, a high temperature in the 20s, and maybe there will be a few snow showers around.

From Thursday night through Sunday, a multi-part storm will bring snow to Colorado, and snow accumulations should be significant. I'll hold on to my initial estimate of 8-12 inches.

From Thursday night to Saturday morning, we will see 4-8+ inches of snow. The storm setup is decently favorable for big accumulations as we'll have good storm energy and moisture, yet the wind direction from the west-southwest is not ideal. We might have some powder (or softer snow) by Saturday morning, and there should be more snow falling throughout the day on Saturday as the wind direction (from the west and west-northwest) becomes more favorable for more snow. Saturday's snow quality should be pretty fluffy due to cool temperatures in the teens.

Then from Saturday night through Sunday night, the next phase of the storm will bring a lot of moisture, and gusty winds, and we will be on the southern edge of the storm track. This combination yields a tricky forecast. I'll go with a lower snow amount of just 2-4 inches, though if the storm tracks just a bit to the south, we could see more than this.

As (another) reminder, there will be little terrain open starting on Saturday, so even with significant snow in the forecast, keep expectations low for riding powder, and hopefully more terrain opens later this weekend or, more likely, early next week.

The longer-range forecast still shows the snowfall should end either later on Sunday or early on Monday, and then we'll see dry and warmer weather during most of the following week. Our next chance for a storm will be sometime between December 8-11.

Thanks for reading!

JOEL GRATZ
Meteorologist at OpenSnow.com

Snow conditions as of Thursday morning

New snow mid-mountain:
* 0” (24 hours Wednesday 500am to Thursday 500am)
* 0” (Overnight Wednesday 400pm to Thursday 500am)

New snow upper-mountain:
* 0” (24 hours Wednesday 500am to Thursday 500am)
* 0” (Overnight Wednesday 400pm to Thursday 500am)

Last snowfall:
* 8” Friday to Saturday Night (Nov 24-26)

Terrain
* 1 of 17 lifts
* 0 of 147 trails
* Latest update

Snowpack compared to the 30-year average:
* 53%