Colorado Weather Discussion Thread

[The SnowShow]

noaa:
AN AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE CENTERED OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN
WILL CAUSE THE JET STREAM TO SHIFT NORTHWARD FROM TUESDAY THROUGH
SATURDAY. THIS SHIFT WILL CAUSE NORTHWESTERLY FLOW TO SETUP OVER
MUCH OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. THE SHIFT WILL ALSO ALLOW
MOISTURE TO BE ENTRAINED OVER THE INTERMOUNTAIN WEST BEFORE MOVING
INTO COLORADO. THIS MOISTURE ALONG WITH GOOD OROGRAPHICS AND UPPER
LEVEL JET SUPPORT WILL PROVIDE THE PERFECT SETTING FOR PROLONGED
SNOWFALL. SNOW IS EXPECTED TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH POTENTIALLY
FRIDAY FOR THE PARK/GORE RANGES AND ALSO THE ELKS AS A SERIES OF
EMBEDDED DISTURBANCES MOVE OVER THE AREA. THERE WILL BE TIMES WHEN
ONE DISTURBANCE LEAVES AND SOME SUN MAY PEEK THROUGH BEFORE
ANOTHER SHOT OF SNOW MOVES IN. THIS WILL BE THE TREND THROUGHOUT
THIS WHOLE EVENT. WHILE SNOWFALL RATES WILL NOT BE EXCEPTIONAL AT
ANY ONE TIME...THE FACT THAT IT WILL SNOW THROUGH POSSIBLY FRIDAY
IS. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 12 TO 16 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE WITH
LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS ALSO POSSIBLE.

Come on NW

[carlcarlson]

Headed to Steamboat tonight from Boulder. Did patrol open everything up? How busy was it today? Thanks guys

steamboat was CRAZY busy today. gondy line was endless, they were parking cars along mt werner circle and pine grove. snow was epic, hands down the best day out of the 5 seasons i've been here (includes 07/08). tits deep, and lots of people choking. it was... stupid

[harvest14]

steamboat was CRAZY busy today. gondy line was endless, they were parking cars along mt werner circle and pine grove. snow was epic, hands down the best day out of the 5 seasons i've been here (includes 07/08). tits deep, and lots of people choking. it was... stupid

Worth it to make the drive? I'm leaning on yes but I saw that crazy picture of the lift line and that we me worry...Any terrain stay closed today?

[BDKeg]

Lee sides of ridges at breck had some nice, dense, windblown snow. No complaints.

Anyone see the debacle at the Tbar with the lady who repeatedly fell off, then walked toward her hecklers to give them a piece of her mind and got hit by a Tbar on its return trip?

100% Epic.

heh wish i could have seen that...when is the breck Tbar not a shitshow?

[BDKeg]

steamboat was CRAZY busy today. gondy line was endless, they were parking cars along mt werner circle and pine grove. snow was epic, hands down the best day out of the 5 seasons i've been here (includes 07/08). tits deep, and lots of people choking. it was... stupid

pictures or it didn't happen...seriously, there were a million people there but nobody has 1 picture?

[storyofthewolf]

With more snow on the forecast, if i didn't just take off to go to Wolf Creek last week, I'd be trying to head up to Steamboat this week. Hopefully we will get a little more snow (and a little less wind) for Loveland Wednesday/Thursday.

[garuda]

Steamboat was ridiculous today. I haven't choked on snow like that since Dec. 03 at Targee. Legit scares in the first few laps as you'd go 5+ turns without any chance to breath. I didn't take pics except for from the chair.

Here's what it looked like on the 1st ride up Four Points:

Here's what Storm Peak face looked like towards the end of the day:


Things got skied pretty hard, pow frenzy up there. There's still stashes, but the NW flow this week hopefully will build it back to fluffy conditions.

[RockBoy]

"Epic" is now defined by 2/20/12 at Steamboat!!!!

Choking on snow... White Room all morning... Sending 20 footers out of No Name and St Pats... Just plain ridiculous today!!!

...and it was definetly more than 27"!!!

[fids11]

Not quite steamboat-esque but powderhorn was ridiculous today. Skied 9am -1pm and didn't have many turns where I wasn't choking on snow. Temps in the teens in the morning, sun poking out, blue skies, cold smoke, and never longer than a two minute lift line wait. Will try to get up some pics and vid soon. Great day!

[snowswine]

^^^^^I was wondering how that was skiing. I'm heading over that way on Wednesday from Utah I think. I had a couple super deep super cold days there last year when they got over two feet while the rest of the state got like six inches. Doesn't happen very often but man when it does....

[PowTron]

noaa:
AN AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE CENTERED OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN
WILL CAUSE THE JET STREAM TO SHIFT NORTHWARD FROM TUESDAY THROUGH
SATURDAY. THIS SHIFT WILL CAUSE NORTHWESTERLY FLOW TO SETUP OVER
MUCH OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. THE SHIFT WILL ALSO ALLOW
MOISTURE TO BE ENTRAINED OVER THE INTERMOUNTAIN WEST BEFORE MOVING
INTO COLORADO. THIS MOISTURE ALONG WITH GOOD OROGRAPHICS AND UPPER
LEVEL JET SUPPORT WILL PROVIDE THE PERFECT SETTING FOR PROLONGED
SNOWFALL. SNOW IS EXPECTED TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH POTENTIALLY
FRIDAY FOR THE PARK/GORE RANGES AND ALSO THE ELKS AS A SERIES OF
EMBEDDED DISTURBANCES MOVE OVER THE AREA. THERE WILL BE TIMES WHEN
ONE DISTURBANCE LEAVES AND SOME SUN MAY PEEK THROUGH BEFORE
ANOTHER SHOT OF SNOW MOVES IN. THIS WILL BE THE TREND THROUGHOUT
THIS WHOLE EVENT. WHILE SNOWFALL RATES WILL NOT BE EXCEPTIONAL AT
ANY ONE TIME...THE FACT THAT IT WILL SNOW THROUGH POSSIBLY FRIDAY
IS. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 12 TO 16 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE WITH
LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS ALSO POSSIBLE.

Come on NW

YES PLEASE

[skiHOG]

already dumping again in the "Boat. 12-18" forecast thru Wednesday evening.

Think it's funny how many people talking smack about Steamboat being flat. There was 3 feet of new snow and people on TRG are complaining about flatness. Plenty of steeps on that mountain to ski, maybe just not Silverton steep.

[pdt1374]

was going to do half day at copper if they got 6"+, took the full day off and hit the Boat. This proved to be the correct descesion...

Best pow i have ever seen and top 20 pow days ever. The Boat has fun drops in the shoots on morning and skiiers right off pony express under the rope was indeed fun with good drops but a good majority of the mountain is breck-flat... "maybe just not Silverton steep" bahhahahaha, understatment of the thread?

[BDKeg]

steamboat and steep? I don't think i've ever heard those two words in the same sentence. Nice pictures though!

[skiHOG]

Steep enough, all that matters to me.

[RockBoy]

I'm still smiling from yesterday and I doubt it will go away any time soon. That was a special day, and I'll always have a unique bond with the peeps I skied with on 2/20/12 at Steamboat.

[Gregger]

I'm still smiling from yesterday and I doubt it will go away any time soon. That was a special day, and I'll always have a unique bond with the peeps I skied with on 2/20/12 at Steamboat.

Riveting tale ol' chap.

Another 12-18" tonight up there will put the avy danger way off the chart. At least we're in a better pattern for now.

[fids11]

Wow, after seeing the video gratzo posted on opensnow from Steamboat, this sure won't stack up but here's what my wife and I's first run looked like at Powderhorn yesterday complete with happy screams. We were about the 10th chair up. Working on getting a video together of the whole day, will try to post later. Enjoy

http://vimeo.com/37180657

[knumbskull]

Yeah Powderhorn was awesome yesterday. 19" of blower and bluebird skies, it doesn't get any better! Seriously straight out of a dream except with a lot more people skiing my runs!

And the drive to the area was a total shit show. We saw atleast 3 rollovers on I-70 with a few more people in the ditch.

[gratzo]

@fids11 - excellent vid. I skied Powderhorn a few years ago in similarly deep snow. Fun mountain with surprisingly fun tree skiing.

The Steamboat Surprise happened again. I have some theories, but don't know exactly why it occurs. Two miles to the north at Buff Pass, 12". While Steamboat reported 34" total. Very interesting. I be there are a ton of other little micro climates around Colorado that get dumped on with snow, but we don't know about it because there's no ski area there.

Still nuking in Steamboat...should be fantastic Tuesday AM and again Thursday AM. I talked to a friend who said that she really should have used a snorkel.

JOEL

[PowTron]

^^^ You mean Wednesday AM? Or as in the day that just went by

Thinking about heading up tomorrow, but not sure if you are off by a day due to the Holiday and Monday, haha.

[Crampedon]

The Steamboat Surprise happened again. I have some theories, but don't know exactly why it occurs. Two miles to the north at Buff Pass, 12". While Steamboat reported 34" total. Very interesting. I be there are a ton of other little micro climates around Colorado that get dumped on with snow, but we don't know about it because there's no ski area there.

JOEL

Keep it low! I have a couple good old boys that turned the nozzle north on the Vail cloud seeding gun, enjoy it before they figure it out!

[montanaskier]

stoked for the Steamboat peeps. Tomorrow should be a really nice warm day, get out and enjoy what ya got I suppose.

[BDKeg]

stoked for the Steamboat peeps. Tomorrow should be a really nice warm day, get out and enjoy what ya got I suppose.

you guys are probably getting pretty good snow right now especially since it's been snowing all afternoon here.

[linvillegorge]

I hope the mountains aren't seeing the wind that we are having in the foothills right now. Worst wind ever in Evergreen. Snow blowing everywhere, wrecks all over the place, just awful.