Colorado’s southern mountains received plentiful snowfall Wednesday while the northern and central mountains saw moderate amounts, and similar patterns are forecast for the weekend.
Wolf Creek received 29 inches, Purgatory 19 and Telluride 13 from Tuesday night through Thursday morning, according to the OpenSnow forecasting and reporting service. Snowfall amounts in the northern and central mountains mostly were six inches or less, although Powderhorn received 14.
Avalanche warnings are in effect through Friday morning for the San Juan, La Plata, La Garita and Sangre de Cristo ranges of southern Colorado, along with the West Elk range and Grand Mesa in the central mountains.
OpenSnow founding meteorologist Joel Gratz is predicting an additional eight to 20 inches from Thursday through Sunday for the southern mountains, four to 10 inches elsewhere.
“Friday morning should be really fun in the south with six to 12-plus inches of fluffy powder,” Gratz wrote Thursday morning, “and the central and northern mountains should wind up with two to six inches of fluffy snow by mid-morning to midday.”
For Saturday, Gratz expects snowfall favoring areas near the Continental Divide, but nothing major — five inches for Eldora and four for Winter Park, Loveland, and Arapahoe Basin — with scattered showers elsewhere.
Despite abundant recent snowfall, most Colorado resorts continue to report base depths that are below normal. Those that are above normal include Winter Park, Vail, Steamboat, Monarch, Crested Butte, Beaver Creek and Echo Mountain.
Gratz sees mostly dry and sunny conditions in the mountains next week with a chance for storms early the following week, perhaps in time for President’s Day.
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, The Adventurist, to get outdoors news sent straight to your inbox.