Right up front, I’m telling you that you need to have a “case of the Mondays” (on December 14th, to be exact). After a great storm last Sunday-Tuesday that dropped up to 51″ of snow at Wolf Creek, and some quiet (but cold and windy) weather for the rest of the weekend, another storm is landing in Colorado on Sunday into Monday.
You might be thinking, “Joel – good news about the snow. But how am I supposed to get Monday off?” Ah, relax. I’m a full-service weatherman, and I’ve got you covered on this front as well (get it? ”front” ha!). Check out my presentation from last night’s Ignite Boulder #7, available on my education page. The title? ”When should I call in sick for a powder day?” Yes, the timing couldn’t be better! This presentation is exactly 20 slides, and is delivered in exactly 15 seconds per slide (they auto advance…this is the ‘trick’ to Ignite). A video of the presentation will be available soon on Youtube. For videos of past presentations, go here.
Without further adieu, here is the forecast and some bonus points for you. I will update the site on Saturday or Sunday if the forecast changes. If you’re new to the site – WELCOME! Please check in often, let me know how the snow is, and sign up for the email list on the right side of the page.
Forecast and Snow Totals
- Friday: Warmer (well above 0 degrees, yippee!), dry, and mostly sunny.
- Saturday: Mostly cloudy for all of the mountains. Very light snow falls Friday night into Saturday morning for areas from Aspen on south and west, but this doesn’t amount to more than a few random inches. After a mid-afternoon lull, moderate snow begins to fall for the same area (Aspen on south and west) Saturday evening into Sunday morning.
- Sunday: Morning snow reports will likely show 3 inches or less for I-70 resorts and north, and likely 3-6″ (up to 8″ in lucky areas) in the central and southern mountains. Powderhorn, Aspen, and Telluride could do the best. Another lull in the action on Sunday, but heavier snow moves in by Sunday midday to afternoon. Areas along and north of I-70 should see the heaviest snow wait until late afternoon and evening.
- Monday: Best powder day of the next 7-10 days. Most resorts west of Summit co. should report double digit totals from Sunday morning through Monday morning (Summit Co. and east will see 3-6″). Snow will continue off and on for areas from Aspen/Powderhorn on north to Steamboat and weaken through the day. Not too cold, no too windy, and some good powder.
North = 6-12″
East = 3-6″
Central = 8-16″
South = 10-20″
- Tuesday: Mostly sunny, except for some lingering clouds and maybe some light snow along and north of I-70.
- Wednesday: Mostly dry and mostly sunny.
- Thursday: Mostly dry and mostly sunny.
Move the map around, zoom in and out, and click on the mountains and colors for more details.
Comparing storms
View CPF: Snow Forecast, December 12-14, 2009 in a larger map
The last storm (Dec 6-8, 51″ at Wolf Creek) was very different from this storm. That storm came from the southwest. This storm is coming from the west. The take away? Less snow overall, but it will be more consistently spread across Colorado. And because the storm isn’t as strong, it won’t bring down bitterly cold air in its wake.
Joel, you just made my (Sat/Sun/Mon hut trip) weekend! Keep up the great work you’ve been doing!
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Bring It Monday!
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Brett – glad it’s going to work out for you! Be safe out there, and enjoy the freshies. Please report back where you where and how much snow fell…always hard to get good backcountry reports!
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joel, in your professional opinion how many pieces of flair will this storm have?
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The new weather maps are coming in as we speak…and they say “maybe 18 pieces of flair, max.” Hmm…looks like this storm is gonna be in trouble with the manager.
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Joel, maybe this is completely implicit based on the motive of your site, but I think you might want to let people know that this will be a mountain-only event with no snow in Denver metro…
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You got it, buddy. Unless we get another 2 feet that lets me ski Chautauqua Park, I’m always talking about the mountains. But yes, good point – nada on the flatlands from this west-to-east storm!
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As always, thanks for the insight Joel. Such a shame that Tahoe is looking at 6′ from this storm while we’re left relatively marginal amounts.
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I would always take 18″ in Telluride (or anywhere else in CO, just partial to home) over 6′ in Tahoe!
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Sure, lots of snow in Tahoe. It’s heavy, but skiable for sure. You can always find someplace getting more snow than your current location – so like Brian, I’m happy when it snows in my back yard:-)
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