Winter Park powder turns (2/15/13)
Sunday night/Monday morning snow exceeds expectations for some areas
Most areas in the mountains were only expecting 2-4" overnight (with up to 6" in Steamboat), but the morning snowfall report for ski areas included 9" at Steamboat, 9" at Snowmass, 7" at Beaver Creek, and 6" at Powderhorn, making for a nice surprise powder day for these areas. By midday today, Steamboat had actually reported another 4.5", bumping their total up to 13.5". In Summit County, none other than Keystone picked up the most snow in the area with 4", and areas as far south as the Northern San Juans got in on the action as well, with Telluride picking up 5" and Silverton 4".
Cooler (but not really cold) temperatures in Denver following a mild weekend
High temperatures in Denver were about 20 degrees cooler in Denver today, after topping 60 on Sunday. Brisk winds during the afternoon certainly made it feel cooler as well. Winds have calmed down, and tomorrow morning most parts of the metro area will wake up to temperatures in the teens. Tomorrow, we'll see our temperatures warm up nicely into the mid 40's for most areas under mostly clear skies. We'll start to see a few clouds move in tomorrow afternoon, signaling a change in the weather on the way for Wednesday.
In the mountains, temperatures will be relatively mild as well. Most ski area base areas will see highs reach the 30's, while areas above 11,000 ft. will be in the 20's. Clouds will be on the increase in the afternoon, from south to north.
Huge storm system moving into Colorado on Wednesday - San Juan Range, then the Eastern Plains set to receive significant snowfall... Front Range cities will mostly miss out
A major storm system is developing near the west coast as a trough of low pressure dives deep into southern California before quickly moving east toward Colorado, initially bringing heavy snow to the California mountains. The storm will first reach Colorado Wednesday morning, bringing heavy snow to the San Juan Mountains, with Wolf Creek, Durango, and Silverton likely to be favored. Winds will be from the south (almost due south), so the San Juan Range will act as a barrier, preventing most of the moisture from reaching ranges farther north on Wednesday. However, the airmass across Colorado is going to be unstable on Wednesday (which speaks to the strength magnitude of this system), so there will be pop-up snow showers (can't even rule out thundersnow) across all mountain areas during the day Wednesday, but the most consistent snow will fall in the southern mountains, with spotty accumulations elsewhere.
By Wednesday evening, most of the attention shifts to eastern Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska, as the storm center moves east of the Rockies and tracks northeast, pulling in moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and producing heavy snowfall and blizzard conditions over this region. Parts of Eastern Colorado should see at least six inches, along with strong winds and whiteout conditions. Farther east and northeast is where the heaviest snow will fall, and models are showing up to two feet of snow in parts of northern Kansas and Nebraska! The main circulation will be a little too far east of Denver, so it doesn't look like we're going to get much snow out of this. I do think we could see some light snow, but we'll be on the eastern fringe, so places like Aurora (rather than areas near the foothills) would be more favored in this event. We'll see how the storm looks tomorrow, though. I wouldn't completely give up on Denver for this storm, but at this point it is unlikely we'll see much more than light accumulations.
Northwest flow to develop behind the main storm, providing snow to the northern and central mountains
As the storm system tracks northeast, winds over northern and central Colorado will switch to northwesterly Wednesday night, and wrap-around snow will develop, bringing snow to the region. Details are uncertain at this point, but it even looks like moist northwesterly flow could persist for a couple of days, which would be great news for many ski areas, bringing similar conditions to what was experienced late last week. Steamboat/Park Range, the Front Range mountains, Vail/Beaver Creek, Aspen, and Telluride/Silverton are all in line to benefit from this pattern, and Summit County could also do well.
More storms to follow in the medium to long range
We should see another storm affect Colorado this weekend, likely around Saturday night/Sunday, and the storm track looks active next week as well, with the possibility of more storms moving in right through the end of February. This is great news for ski areas, as conditions have really turned around this month after a ridiculously dry January. Most of the state is still experiencing a well below average snowpack, but snow conditions have improved dramatically over the past three weeks.
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