Heavy snow and strong winds with the potential to force mountain road closures will kick off the Martin Luther King holiday weekend on Friday and Saturday. That will be followed by powder days on Sunday and Monday, according to the OpenSnow forecasting and reporting service.
Steamboat should get 36 inches over the next five days, while the Monarch, Crested Butte, Vail, Beaver Creek and Telluride ski resorts could receive two feet or more. Aspen Highlands, Aspen Mountain, Snowmass, Arapahoe Basin, Loveland, Copper Mountain, Purgatory, Cooper and Winter Park are in for 19-20 inches.
But getting to those resorts on Friday and Saturday could be a challenge, according to OpenSnow founding meteorologist Joel Gratz.
“I now worry that the strong winds will be the main story, making for both inconsistent snow conditions and difficult to sometimes impossible driving conditions due to blowing snow and low visibility,” Gratz wrote Thursday in his weekend forecast. “If you were planning to travel from Friday into Saturday, have a backup plan.”
Lots more snowfall is due for Saturday night through Monday night.
“This will be the main part of the storm with intense snow for all mountains and at least 10-20 inches of accumulation,” Gratz wrote. “Sunday should be a powder day everywhere, and I think the northern and central mountains will see more snow on Sunday night, Monday, and maybe Monday evening, so powder could be fun at those spots on Monday and perhaps even into Tuesday morning. Wind speeds will be lighter on Sunday and Monday, though Sunday should bring rising temperatures, so snow conditions may not be perfect. Monday could offer better snow conditions.”
A week ago, Colorado skiers were bemoaning a dismal snowpack after a few weeks of mostly dry weather took the snowpack well below normal, but the current weather pattern could go a long way to improving base depths. Tuesday and Wednesday of next week should be dry, but another storm could bring snow to the northern mountains toward the the end of the week.
CDOT’s Snowstang bus service to Arapahoe Basin, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Loveland and Steamboat, which normally operates on Saturdays and Sundays, is adding Monday service on MLK Day. Trips originate at Denver Union Station with stops at RTD’s Federal Center Station in Lakewood and the Wooly Mammoth Park-n-Ride near Morrison.
The Winter Park Express will begin service to Winter Park Resort for the season on Friday. The train operates weekly on Friday through Sunday through March 31, and will offer a special Monday service on MLK Day.
Because of the snowfall and winds expected this weekend, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center issued a special avalanche advisory.
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