Heading into this weekend... and almost a carbon copy of last weekend , a potent storm system is expected to ride a strong push from the Pacific jet stream, keeping most of the core energy north of Colorado. With a similar storm set up, similar impacts are expected to move through the state. We'll see wind and fire danger ramp up, especially south of I-70 on Saturday, heavy mountain snow picking up Saturday night and throughout Sunday, with a chan

We're starting to get into the "increasing confidence" range of the storm set to impact Colorado in the coming days. But "increasing confidence" doesn't mean "high confidence" at this point. For now we've got some data to at least share, and give some general guidance – but we still have another 24 hours worth of model data to comb through by tomorrow evening to give you a better idea of how this will play out. In short – you know what we're going to say: watch for the changes, maybe not much i

After a chilly, windy and snowy weekend across the state of Colorado, the work week has landed us in a pretty good spot. Monday featured a bit of wind and leftover snow in the mountains, Tuesday is looking great with widespread 50s and 60s along the Front Range, and Wednesday should be one of the warmest days of the week with most getting into the 60s along and east of I-25. Clearly we're going to be working with stuff well above normal the next few days. The good news is that we won't have muc

It was a snowy Saturday over the continental divide, with strong winds in the mountains, passes and along the front range. Here's a look at some of the gusts across the state today: Snow stakes looking good (Imagery from 5:30pm) Many locations already seeing 5-10" of fresh powder. For some resorts, this event is just getting started with another 10-16"+ possible in the central and northern mountains. Keystone Snow Stake [https://www.keystoneresort.com/the-mountain/mountain-conditions/mounta

Our slow start to the snowy-season continues statewide across Colorado. We're going to attempt to help out the slope this weekend as several waves of energy move across the state. Many of the ski resorts could see up to a foot or more of snow by Sunday night. Slow start to the season for Western U.S. snowpack, will that change in December?It hasn’t been a great start to the s

It's kind of like when you have trouble getting the engine started. We've had some flashes of life here and there with the weather, but outside of that, a LOT of downtime. We discussed in our last SOTA post that we're starting to shed into a pattern change. It's still looking like we'll see a decent storm for the mountains starting Sunday and lasting into Monday. Model data the past few days has had some trouble pinning down the forecast for the front range and lower elevations. The big picture

About a week and a half ago, we posted about a possible active end to October in our State of the Atmosphere post. Coming just in time, we have a blast of winter weather on the way this weekend. Now, we're not going full-blown bomb cyclone with this thing, but much colder air and some accumulating snowfall is all on the table. But first – let's get through some housekeeping We have a weak system is passing to our southeast Tuesday afternoon

A little more than 24 hours removed from our last update on the incoming system and things don't look all that different in today's light. Changes are still set to arrive for the second half of the week, mountain snow is still expected, and for lower elevations many areas will likely see their first sub-freezing temperatures of the season by week's end – as well as the potential for the sea

As the latest storm in a series of systems that continue to bring amazing amounts of rain and snow to the west coast is moving inland this morning. It'll track across the Great Basin today and tonight, and bring another round of moderate to heavy snow for our mountains early Wednesday, with some of that rain and snow pushing across the plains during the day Wednesday. The ongoing atmospheric river that has pushed anomalous moisture into Cali

With our latest round of snow behind us, let's look ahead to the end of the week and weekend as mild air returns to the forecast for many of us, but another system (or two) await in the wings. First, snowfall totals over the last three days shows appreciable snow for much of the mountain regions with a good results for our forecast across our area. Some of the foothill locations west of Denver di

A quick update this morning to look ahead to the weekend and what looks like another period of mild weather back in the forecast as we head into next week. A fast moving system will bring a round of moderate snowfall to the high country tonight and Saturday, but mostly wind for Eastern Colorado. A few showers may spread east of the mountains on Saturday, but aren't expected to amount to much. The hourly planner for Denver shows a chilly day the chance we see some rain and snow showers around

Our next weather maker arrives this afternoon to western Colorado and will eventually bring a chance of rain and show showers to eastern Colorado on Friday as well. Heavy mountain snow will be the main story with this system, as impacts east of the mountains look limited. For totals over the next 72 hours I like this map. Big question might be is if we see a snow burst Friday afternoon/evening deliver localized greater snow totals around the greater Denver area or not. As you can see, great

The transition to winter has been a slow one, and not surprisingly so. We're finally seeing cold showing up for the next 10+ days, focused initially across the western United States, but propagating eastward as well. A wintry pattern indeed, but whether that translates to snow for northeast Colorado remains to be seen. The teleconnections we often look to for insight into where any particular pattern is headed are pointing to a "troughy", chilly west to wrap up November and begin to December. H

Temperatures are again running above average across eastern Colorado today as strong downsloping winds have helped drive afternoon highs into the upper 40s and lower 50s for many across the metro area. While the strongest winds were focused across the northern border and southeast Wyoming, winds across the Denver area were gusting as high as 45mph early this afternoon, with very strong winds in and along the Front Range foothills. The tight gradient across Colorado and strong winds were modeled

Colorado's snowpack seeing much needed boost Colorado's weather pattern has shifted to a much snowier and colder one than we had previously been experiencing. The negative is that this comes with an increased avalanche danger. The positive is that this comes with the good news of beneficial snowpack, which in many parts of the state is lacking. The recent heavy wet snow of the past week – more than two feet for many mountain ranges – fell onto a ha

If you caught last week’s State of the Atmosphere you’ll recall we talked about the potential for at least one system impacting the state during the first week of November, and in general the potential for a cooler week. We also talked about how models are having a difficult time with medium range outlooks, which continues to be the case. That said, confidence has grown in that we will see at least some rain and possibly snow across portions of eastern Colorado come late Sunday and Monday. Syno

Strong spring system to slide overhead tonight, with dramatic changes to Colorado. However, one of the driest parts of the system will likely be over Denver with the dry slot as mentioned in a previous post . As of Saturday evening, the upper level storm system was swirling over northern Arizona. The direction is still on track to move northeast right over the northeastern plains a

Avalanche Watch in Effect for Northern Mountains Recent heavy snowfall in the Colorado mountains have elevated the avalanche threat and is already responsible for two deaths in February. The Colorado Department of Transportation has been doing avalanche mitigation work along many roadways to prevent a slide that could put drivers at risk. CDOT says it has been doing more mitigation work this season than it has in decades. Thanks to their efforts, no drivers have been injured as a result of a

If you've been following along on FreshyMap over the last week, you'll know that the mountains have been getting slammed with snow. Totals over the last week have range from about 1 to 4 feet, and after a lull Tuesday and Wednesday, the northern mountains could see even more snow to end this week. Responsible for one of the best couple of week's in years across the Colorado high country is what's often referred to as the "Pineapple Express", a batch of moisture with ori

Bitter cold temperatures and a chance for snow We're hoping you enjoyed a brief break from the snow, as more of it is headed for northeast Colorado later today. This system will be much colder than the last and will in fact bring some of the coldest air we've seen since December. There is more or less a chance for snow late Monday through Saturday. The initial push Monday night and Tuesday will be our best shot at accumulating snow until possibly late week. The heaviest snowfall with this init

While January has been snowy as compared to normal for Denver and the Front Range, the mountains have lacked snowfall over the past couple of weeks. The last good snow in the high country being the weekend of January 12th. Meanwhile, Denver and the Front Range had a few cold fronts to drive up the above normal tally for the month. For the season, however, snowfall is still well below normal, very similar to last year. Even sections of the mountains are in need of snow. Here is the basin in

It's been snowing very nicely in the high country over the last 24 hours, and with the northwest flow in full force well into the weekend the snow isn't looking to quit any time soon. Take a look at some of these 24 hours snow totals (yes, Utah is doing quite well as well). Steamboat resort is leading the pack with more snow in the forecast through Sunday. The winds responsible for the snow will also cause some travel headaches if you plan to head west tonight and Saturday. A High Wind Warnin