Nice snow refresher for many ski areas

The system that moved through Colorado packed more of a punch than previously thought, with many ski resorts in the northern part of the state reporting up to a nice surprise of several inches of new snow this morning.  Reports include 4" at Copper Mountain, 5" at Breckenridge, 5" at Winter Park, and the big winner is Beaver Creek with 8".  It's nice to see a surprise snow for areas that have not been able to catch a break (snowfall wise) this season.

In Denver, points downtown and south received an unusual mid-winter rain event yesterday evening, with as much as 0.3 inches of steady rainfall recorded at Centennial Airport.  While steady rainfall does not occur very often at this time of year, the moisture was very welcome.  Looking outside, it appears the foothills saw some accumulating snowfall last night as well.

For the weekend storm I mentioned yesterday, the storm track has shifted a little farther to the north, and it now appears that Denver is probably not going to receive a significant snowfall after all, although I do think we will see some snow.  A nice moisture-laden upslope snowstorm would have been nice, but on the bright side, the northern shift in the storm track should produce better snowfall for many of the mountain areas.  In fact, it looks like most mountain areas in the state could pick up some good snow accumulations, with the San Juans getting in on the action first overnight Friday and into Saturday morning (with southwest winds), then the northern and central mountains picking up most of their snow later on Saturday when winds switch to the west and northwest.

Here are some of the early snowfall amounts the WRF weather model is predicting through Sunday morning (keep in mind, this is only a general idea a couple of days out, and will likely change):

San Juan Range - 7-15"

Sangre de Christo Range - 3-10"

Elk Range (Aspen/Crested Butte) - 6-15"

Grand Mesa - 7-15"

Flat Tops - 7-15"

Northern Sawatch Range - 7-15"

Vail/Beaver Creek - 7-15"

Copper/Breck/Ten Mile Range - 5-15"

Park Range/Steamboat - 7-15"

Winter Park/Berthoud Pass/Loveland - 7-15"

Indian Peaks - 5-15"

Rocky Mountain National Park - 6-20"

Snowy Range/Medicine Bow Range (WY) - 5-10"

Wind River Range (WY) - 10-25"

Eastern Absasorka Range (WY) - 10-20"