Pyramid Peak, seen from Snowmass Ski Resort (Feb 1, 2013)
Quiet weather has been with us for several days now after an active week last week brought the best skiing conditions so far to an otherwise lousy season. Between Wednesday and Friday, a steady, moist northwest flow brought great snow to Steamboat, Vail, Summit County, and the Northern Front Range. Dry weather returned over the weekend, and sunny skies and mild temperatures have been the story so far this week. I was skiing at Copper Mountain yesterday morning, and calm winds and warm temperatures made for a comfortable day on the slopes, but the snowpack is still unusually thin in spite of last week's snow.
A weak disturbance is moving through today, bringing snow showers to much of the Colorado mountains, with an inch or two possible in most locations. This evening and tonight, winds will shift to easterly as a front passes through, and a light upslope precipitation event will occur along the eastern slopes and eastern cities of the Front Range. Most of the moisture will be found farther south, so Colorado Springs and Castle Rock could see some light snow accumulations, while Denver looks to be a little bit too far north to see much of anything, though some flakes are possible. Rain showers are possible earlier on this evening due to the mild temperatures we have been experiencing.
Temperatures topped 60 across much of the metro area yesterday, and we're in the low 50's this afternoon, but changes are on the way for the weekend. A potent storm system is going to move through the southern Rockies, initially bringing good snow to the San Juans, before winds shift to the east later Saturday, bringing the possibility of a significant snow storm to the Denver metro area, as well as all foothill and mountain regions from the Continental Divide east from the Front Range of Colorado up through Wyoming. More details will become present in the coming days, but right now, it looks like this could be the biggest snowfall of the season to date for Denver (not that that's saying much), and could be very beneficial to the drought-stricken eastern foothills and cities.
As for skiing, mountain locations on the eastern side of the Continental Divide, the San Juan Range, and possibly the Sangre de Christo Range will do the best. However, as a cold front associated with the storm system passes through, all areas in the state should see some decent snow (hopefully), so while most of the northern ski areas may not get significant accumulations like the eastern foothills will, there could certainly be enough to freshen up the slopes. Looking farther ahead, the second half of February has the potential to be more active for the mountains, so we will hope this comes to fruition.
No comments:
Post a Comment