On Wednesday and Wednesday night, we saw just light snow with a coating to 1 inch at mid-mountain. The wind direction during this time, from the west-southwest and southwest, is not favorable for a lot of snow.

On Thursday, the unfavorable southwest flow will continue, but we should be able to sneak out at least a little bit of accumulation due to the high amount of moisture in the air and some storm energy moving closer.

From Thursday night through Friday midday, I have high confidence that we'll see intense snow and I'll stick with my thinking that we'll see 4-8 inches. On Friday morning, if the wind can stay more from the northwest (and not west-northwest), our chances for higher-end totals will increase as a northwest wind direction is better and we'll see continued snow showers and accumulations.

This snowfall will NOT immediately allow the mountain to open a ton of terrain, but it'll help, and more terrain should open from Friday through the weekend.

On Friday, it'll be a cold day with temperatures in the single digits and a better chance for snow in the morning and midday.

On Saturday, we'll start out cold with temperatures around 0°F then we'll warm into the teens and 20s. Skies will be dry and sunny.

Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday will also be dry with warmer temperatures in the 30s and 40s.

Our next chance for snow will be around Wednesday, December 15. For now, I am penciling in a moderate storm with maybe 2-6 inches of snow. The forecast will change between now and then, so don't get too caught up in the numbers, as they could go up or down.

Beyond the storm around the 15th, the following week of December 20-24 looks like it will be stormy across the western US. That does not guarantee snowfall here in Colorado, but an active and stormy pattern is what we want to see, so fingers crossed that it delivers for us.

Thanks for reading and please check back each morning for daily updates!

JOEL GRATZ
Meteorologist at OpenSnow.com

Snow conditions as of Thursday morning

New snow mid-mountain:
* 0-1” (24 hours Wednesday 500am to Thursday 500am)
* 0-1” (Overnight Wednesday 400pm to Thursday 500am)

Last snowfall:
* 0-1” Wednesday Night (Dec 8-9)

Terrain
* 7 of 21 lifts
* 15 of 166 trails
* Latest update

Snowpack compared to the 30-year average:
* 74%

PS – Join me on YouTube Live on Thursday, December 9 at 700pm. I'll provide a live forecast update for the upcoming storm and also will discuss some changes that we're making to OpenSnow starting next week. Before or during the chat, please submit questions and I'll answer as many as I can (we already have 10-15 questions, thank you!). If this goes well, myself and other forecasters may do a lot of these Youtube Live sessions in the future, especially leading up to big storms. Save this link to the YouTube Live session.

PPS – Starting next week (on or around December 13), we are going to make some significant changes to OpenSnow. If you're an All-Access subscriber (thank you!), you'll see no changes. If you are not an All-Access subscriber, here is an FAQ with more details about the upcoming changes, and we hope that eventually, we'll earn your support.

Here is a 3-minute video that I made (with my son Levi) to introduce a few of the upcoming changes. Please watch the video to at least see what Levi has to say to everyone at the end (non of this was scripted/rehearsed and I'm surprised it worked out!). If you can't see the video embedded below, tap here.