Colorado Weather Discussion Thread

[Micol]

I have a feeling they tend not to open that stuff until the second major storm of the season. Enough work to do trying to get the other stuff open with the limited staff.

Im sure you're right. I just saw that they were spamming that it was open the day before i took off from ledvil. But with all that new snow , be silly to push it and risk danger. I dont think when the posted they expected the snow to keep going and going.

In fact, driving down was white out fog haze until almost Center. Then blue skis ffrom Dale Norte up into say about WC Ranch whereby it went snowy agin.

btw: Been snowing all day today in Ledvil, what's it doing in Summit ?

[AlpiNord]

Well, Mr Gratz is forecasting great news:

The Colorado Daily Snow

Monday December 17th 2012 7:51am MST


By Meteorologist Joel Gratz

We're in for a great three days of snow - Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday will feature powder for many areas. Here's the deal...
The steady snow along and north of I-70 on Sunday will continue today (Monday) and Monday night into Tuesday. Steamboat will be the big winner with almost two feet of snow falling in the next two days after almost two feet of snow has fallen in the last two days. What a difference two weeks make, eh? Other areas along I-70 and even around Crested Butte, Irwin, and Monarch in the central mountains will continue to see good snow. The reason for this steady snow is a weather pattern that is "flat", meaning the winds are generally from west-to-east instead of north-to-south or visa versa. A flat pattern often means we have decent moisture streaming in from the Pacific Ocean and little bundles of storm energy (vorticity) moving through the flow every 6-12 hours to enhance the snowfall. Slight adjustments can mean all the difference (less or more moisture, slightly different wind direction, etc), so I didn't want to jump on the "it's going to snow a lot" bandwagon too early. But I'm glad to see it's dumping and I'm fully on board the snow bandwagon at this point.
The main storm moves toward Colorado on Tuesday afternoon and hits the state Tuesday night. Ahead of the storm, heavy snow will continue for Steamboat on Tuesday and will likely pick up for Wolf Creek and the southern San Juans as well on Tuesday afternoon. Areas in between (most of the state) should still see snow, though the winds will come from the west-southwest or southwest and this isn't as favorable for snow. With abundant moisture and storm energy, though there should still be snow in the air. There's also a chance of the heavy snow band near Steamboat sagging south toward I-70. It's impossible to know where this will wind up, but any location under this band could see hefty snow on Tuesday, much higher than forecast.
The main cold front will move across Colorado from Tuesday late evening through Wednesday morning. A perfect mix of factors will combine for very heavy snow (cold front, moisture, jet stream) and I would expect road closures on Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning as the front passes. It could snow 1-3 inches per hour as the front passes, and along with gusty winds visibility could go to near zero for a short time. That's usually all you need to close some roads, so if you're angling for a Wednesday powder day, either get to your location Tuesday evening or hope and pray that the roads stay open and traffic flows. This is more of a concern along I-70 and north, though areas further south could see issues as well. Also, if you're coming from Denver to the mountains, the metro area will see snow on Tuesday night as well, so if you wait until Wednesday morning to drive it could be a loooooooooong commute.
That said, Wednesday should be a powder day for almost all mountains in the state.(as I forecasted on Saturday, five days before:-). The heavy snow will wind down by late morning except around Telluride, Silverton, and Monarch where it could continue through mid afternoon. Go out and ski/ride on Wednesday...after a few days of snow and then big snow Tuesday night, conditions will be the best of the season. Don't you owe yourself a day out of work or school anyway?
After the excitement of Wednesday, we'll see dry, sunny weather on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and likely Sunday as well. Then it's probable that another storm hits most of Colorado with another good shot of snow sometime around Christmas Eve night (+/- 12 to 18 hours). Ain't life grand?
JOEL GRATZ
PS - my snow research in Utah continues. Here's a quick recap from yesterday at Solitude, where we lapped 18-25 inches of untouched snow in Honeycomb Canyon with NO lift lines. Solitude indeed!

[bamboocoreONLY]

epic day in breck. tons of rope drops to some seriously deep snow. only hit 1 rock lol.

looking like the next 2-3 days will be the same. welcome back winter! so stoked right now

[RonMexico]

epic day in breck. tons of rope drops to some seriously deep snow. only hit 1 rock lol.

looking like the next 2-3 days will be the same. welcome back winter! so stoked right now

Which peak were they droppin ropes on? Was up there Saturday and still looked thin in lots of spots. They get 10 open?

[bamboocoreONLY]

Which peak were they droppin ropes on? Was up there Saturday and still looked thin in lots of spots. They get 10 open?

mostly just the stuff under rocky mtn on peak 8, i.e. high anxiety, little johnny, etc. I'd imagine they opened a couple on peak 9 as well. haven't heard anything about 10, but I imagine it won't be long now.

[homebrewd]

Its just a few hours from starting. Here we gooooo.

[SterlingSpikeDancer]

Now, if only we can do something about the front range shitshow drivers who think 160 is I-70. Slow down asshats...

Natural selection should sort it out, as long as they get OFF the road when they wipe out!

Sick Day scheduled for Wednesday. BRING IT ULLR!

Me too. *cough, cough*

[Hott Butt Mud]

12" for Breck.

(mostly just posting so that dumbass chem trails thread gets off the top)

[UGASkiDawg]

12" for Breck.

(mostly just posting so that dumbass chem trails thread gets off the top)

I see the Breck marketing department is cranking up the bullshit machine here before Xmas......

[The SnowShow]

Happy to see the Basin get some

[cmsummit]

I see the Breck marketing department is cranking up the bullshit machine here before Xmas......

I shovelled 7" - 8" in my driveway in town between last night and this morning, so 12" on the hill seems about right.

Still puking too.

[montanaskier]

Drive to The city this morning was poor. VP still HAMMErING snow. Tunnel approach wasn't as bad. Have fun boys and girls.

[The SnowShow]

Drive to The city this morning was poor. VP still HAMMErING snow. Tunnel approach wasn't as bad. Have fun boys and girls.

how long? 2+ hours?

[JaytaeMoney]

Breck reporting 12" and CB 9"

In Aspen we got 0"

How is that possible... if you look at a map and draw a line between Breck and CB, Aspen is basically on the midpoint of that line.

Forecast is saying 10-14" thru tomorrow but putting that on top of 9-12" would have been glorious. Enjoy it you bastards.

[montanaskier]

It was 2+ hour drive but I'm a cautious driver and wasn't in a hurry

[pappag]

If you think this is good now, wait until next Mon-Tuesday ... should be even better.

[PowTron]

If you think this is good now, wait until next Mon-Tuesday ... should be even better.

Hope you're right...

[pappag]

Hope you're right...

Well I wasn't wrong about this one way back when all the homers here were still butthurt.

[hatchgreenchile]

Well I wasn't wrong about this one way back when all the homers here were still butthurt.

Since you and Ullr are bros, please tell me you’ll be nukin’ Steamboat the 28th through the 30th….

[PowTron]

Well I wasn't wrong about this one way back when all the homers here were still butthurt.

yep, props to you on that one.

[BDKeg]

In Aspen we got 0"

wtf? never seen that happen before, winds seemed to be right for aspen to get just as much as all the other areas.

[Crampedon]

If you think this is good now, wait until next Mon-Tuesday ... should be even better.

Correct sir, supporting my graphs and hypothosis about my air travel relating to snowfall.

If this keeps up I may pass the hat around the collective to fund future flights, at least we KNOW it works.

-Not like the $35,ooo bottle opener panhandleing going on nearby...

[pappag]

Since you and Ullr are bros, please tell me you’ll be nukin’ Steamboat the 28th through the 30th….

Looks like a SW flow on the 30th and not much snow for the Boat. The week of New Year's will be bone dry until at least the weekend.

[Harv]

Monarch was better yesterday than its been in a very long time. Here's a shot of my son, keep in mind he's 4'7" tall, but its good.

[Wildman]

Well I wasn't wrong about this one way back when all the homers here were still butthurt.

Well Played..