On Tuesday we saw temperatures stay in the 5F range all day with a mix of light snow and breaks of sunshine. The 8-9 inches of new snow that you found on Tuesday morning was quite dense, likely around 10-to-1 snow-to-liquid ratios, which is a little denser than average for Colorado (average is about 15-to-1). I'll take the dense snow as it helps to deepen the base and provides additional water content which is helpful to fill our reservoirs in the summer. We saw an additional 1-2 inches on Tuesday and Tuesday evening, and the official storm total from Monday afternoon through Tuesday night was 10 inches, which was in the middle of my forecast range. A fun storm indeed!

Now on Wednesday morning, the temperature is about -5F from base to summit, and the sunshine should warm us into the 10-15F range by midday. Thanks to the cold temperatures and light snow during the day on Tuesday, you will likely find soft snow across the mountain on Wednesday, and the snow may also feel ‘slow’ due to the cold temperatures.

Looking ahead, we will have three storms during the next five days.

The first storm will bring light snow on Wednesday night and Thursday with 1-3 inches of accumulation and the softest turns on Thursday. This storm is not the perfect setup for Winter Park as the wind direction will be from the south.

The second storm will bring light-to-moderate snow on Friday afternoon and Friday night with 3-6 inches of accumulation and the softest turns on Saturday first chair. This storm is setting up better as we’ll see winds from the west and northwest on Friday night.

The third storm will bring light-to-moderate snow on Sunday with 2-4 inches of accumulation and the softest turns on Sunday midday and afternoon. Again, the setup for this storm is ok with winds from the west.

Then we’ll have dry weather from Sunday night through Tuesday with snow likely returning next Wednesday and/or Thursday.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for an update each morning!

JOEL GRATZ, Meteorologist at OpenSnow.com