Thursday was a fun morning with 2-3 inches of snow to start the day, and then we received another 1 inch through about midday. We have a healthy early-season snowpack and conditions are soft and fun - we can't ask for more than that!

Now on Friday, dry weather is back, with temperatures that are colder at the base and warmer up on the hill.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will be mostly dry and mostly sunny. The high temperature will be around 20°F on Friday then warm to around 30°F on Saturday and Sunday. The only wrinkle in this forecast will be a low chance for snow on Friday night as a weak storm passes across northern Colorado. Forecasts have trended down for this storm and snowfall could be anything from no flakes to just a few flakes.

Looking ahead, the main story next week will be a strong storm that will bring snow from Monday afternoon through late Wednesday or into Thursday. The best powder days could be Tuesday with fresh snow in the morning and more during the day, and also Wednesday thanks to additional snow on Tuesday night and snow continuing to get deeper through the day on Wednesday. I think 8-14 inches of accumulation during this time is a reasonable initial forecast. We could get more snow than is in the forecast thanks to a favorable wind direction from the northwest, but we could come in at the low end of the forecast due to cold temperatures and the resulting low amount of moisture in the air.

Following the storm, we should see dry weather during December 15-17, then a storm (or storms) should return at some point in the December 18-24 timeframe.

Thanks for reading!

JOEL GRATZ
Meteorologist at OpenSnow.com

Snow conditions as of Friday morning

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

Last snowfall:
* 3” Wednesday Night & Thursday (Dec 7-8)

Terrain
* 16 of 23 lifts
* 86 of 171 trails
* Latest update

Snowpack compared to the 30-year average:
* 109%