Colorado Weather Discussion Thread

[ASmileyFace]

Well the first wave of snow turned out to be a dud. Wolfie reporting 0" and DMR looks like it got maybe 1" overnight but looks like it's snowing on the cams. Maybe it will snow all day?

[Lindahl]

Definite under report at Breck. 2 in the driveway, which means 5 or so up there. Busy in town tho.

[mdblows]

Woke up to 0 new snow on the ground in South Fork at 7 am. 745 and it's coming down with increasing intensity. Should be a good afternoon.

[smmokan]

Why are you looking at Ski Country USA for your reports? Just go to the resorts website. They almost all report by 5:30am. Some report before that.

[smmokan]

The On The Snow app does a good job too, btw.

[Rideski]

It's nice to just have the one click when waking up bleary eyed at 5. The on the snow does not tell you what time the report came in. So for instance until 5:45 or so they were saying 0, and then updated to 1 or 2. So if you look at 5:30 you don't know if they have updated or not. That is the benefit of the way cscusa is doing it now.

Whole point is moot if you made plans to go anyway, but personally I'd rather sleep in/bike/work on Saturday than ski if it's less than a powder day, and then hope to get a good weekday instead...

[AlpiNord]

Why are you looking at Ski Country USA for your reports? Just go to the resorts website. They almost all report by 5:30am. Some report before that.

...and compare them to your friend SNOTEL.




SNOTEL sets up and manages sensors to determine general water collection amounts in various water sheds throughout the west. Their focus is to position the sensors to get an average reading to determine real water amounts not to show the most snow in a given location. IE, the SNOTEL site about a mile from Wolf Creek Ski area invariably shows less than what WC reports. (A SNOTEL employee laughingly called this the is the '150% rule' when I told him the Cascade #2 site next to Purg was always a bunch less than Purg used to post for depths. Same for Silverton relative to the Red Mountain SNOTEL site.) On the other hand, the Spud Mtn site has been comparable of late to Purg's readings. I usually look at a triangle of sensors to see what they are all showing around a given location. It can be different from aspect to aspect and within a short distance. If you see weird numbers like -99.9, it usually means there is precipitation over that time frame.

You can also add the data layers to Google earth. The color code on the pins indicate relative snow depths.

Here's Wolf Creek summit over the past 24 hours:

2013-02-08	0700	15.9	51.0	17.1	23.5	36.7	15.3	23.7
2013-02-08	0800	15.9	51.0	17.1	24.6	36.7	15.3	23.7
2013-02-08	0900	15.9	51.0	17.1	24.8	36.7	15.3	23.7
2013-02-08	1000	15.9	51.0	17.1	23.9	36.7	15.3	23.7
2013-02-08	1100	15.9	51.0	17.2	27.3	36.7	15.3	23.7
2013-02-08	1200	15.9	51.0	17.2	28.4	36.7	15.3	23.7
2013-02-08	1300	15.9	51.0	17.2	30.6	36.7	15.3	23.7
2013-02-08	1400	15.9	52.0	17.2	27.7	36.7	15.3	23.7
2013-02-08	1500	15.9	52.0	17.2	28.0	36.7	15.3	23.7
2013-02-08	1600	15.9	52.0	17.2	28.0	36.7	15.3	23.7
2013-02-08	1700	15.9	52.0	17.2	27.5	36.7	15.3	23.7
2013-02-08	1800	15.9	51.0	17.2	26.6	36.7	15.3	23.7
2013-02-08	1900	15.9	52.0	17.2	26.1	36.7	15.3	23.7
2013-02-08	2000	15.9	52.0	17.2	25.3	36.7	15.3	23.7
2013-02-08	2100	15.9	52.0	17.2	25.2	36.7	15.3	23.7
2013-02-08	2200	15.9	52.0	17.2	24.6	36.7	15.3	23.7
2013-02-08	2300	15.8	52.0	17.2	24.1	36.7	15.3	23.7
2013-02-09	0000	15.9	52.0	17.2	22.8	30.9	20.5	25.0
2013-02-09	0100	15.9	52.0	17.2	22.1	30.9	20.5	25.0
2013-02-09	0200	15.8	52.0	17.2	20.8	30.9	20.5	25.0
2013-02-09	0300	15.8	51.0	17.1	19.2	30.9	20.5	25.0
2013-02-09	0400	15.8	52.0	17.1	19.0	30.9	20.5	25.0
2013-02-09	0500	15.8	52.0	17.2	18.3	30.9	20.5	25.0
2013-02-09	0600	15.8	52.0	17.1	17.8	30.9	20.5	25.0
2013-02-09	0700	15.8	52.0	17.1	18.3	30.9	20.5	25.0
Date	Time (PST)	Snow Water Equivalent (inches)	Snow Depth (inches)	Year-to-Date Precipitation (inches)	Current Temp (degrees F)	Max	Min	Avg
Previous Day's Temp (degrees F)

[montanaskier]

Absolutely NUKED at Vail starting around 9. Stopped snowing around 1. 6" or so is my guess. Made for nice soft turns....good times. I hit my lip on my pole after a jump and bit through my lip but still a fun day. Looks like its over now, clearing skies.

[smmokan]

Whole point is moot if you made plans to go anyway, but personally I'd rather sleep in/bike/work on Saturday

I feel you.... this is exactly what I did. Just back from a sweet ride at Hall Ranch; only saw 3-4 other people and the whole descent was in flurries with the incoming storm. I absolutely LOVE riding in light snow showers.

Hopefully the snow keeps coming and Loveland is worth going tomorrow.

[Lindahl]

Absolutely NUKED at Vail starting around 9. Stopped snowing around 1. 6" or so is my guess. Made for nice soft turns....good times. I hit my lip on my pole after a jump and bit through my lip but still a fun day. Looks like its over now, clearing skies.

Wonder if more is on the way, or if that was it.

[montanaskier]

Well the sun is in and out now. I think maybe a pop up shower tonight and tomorrow but is guess we're mainly done.

[capulin overdrive]

Stuff is moving so damn fast, i'm about to give up on it as just being some nice little snows here and there.

Think radar is clear for awhile?

[Ireallyliketoski2]

2 products issued by NWS for:

Winter Storm Warning
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
927 AM MST SAT FEB 9 2013

...PERIODS OF SNOWFALL CONTINUE THROUGH MONDAY...

.A MOIST...UNSETTLED SYSTEM WILL BRING WIDESPREAD SNOW TO THE
REGION AS IT TRACKS ACROSS EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO
TODAY. WINDS WILL DECREASE AND SHIFT TO THE NORTHWEST WITH AS A
COLD FRONT PASSES THROUGH THE AREA DURING THE REMAINDER OF THE
MORNING. AS WINDS SHIFT...THE HEAVIER SNOW WILL BEGIN TO FAVOR
NORTHWEST-FACING SLOPES. SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY AS A
REINFORCING LOW ROTATES ACROSS THE AREA. THOSE AREAS WITH
ADVISORIES OR WARNINGS WILL SEE TIMES OF MODERATE TO HEAVY
SNOWFALL FOLLOWED BY A LULL IN ACTIVITY THAT MAY LAST FROM 6 TO
12 HOURS BEFORE PRECIPITATION PICKS UP AGAIN. THIS ON AGAIN OFF
AGAIN ACTIVITY SHOULD BE ESPECIALLY NOTICEABLE ON SUNDAY INTO
EARLY MONDAY AS THE MAIN SYSTEM MOVES OUT AND THEN NEXT
DISTURBANCE DROPS INTO THE FORECAST AREA FROM THE NORTH.

BY MONDAY EVENING 12 TO 24 INCHES OF SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED ACROSS
MOST MOUNTAINS AND PLATEAUS OF WESTERN COLORADO AND EASTERN UTAH.

IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO TRAVEL TODAY THROUGH MONDAY...BE SURE TO
STAY UP TO DATE ON THE LATEST WEATHER FORECASTS. ROAD CONDITIONS
WILL BECOME HAZARDOUS ESPECIALLY OVER THE HIGH MOUNTAIN PASSES.
YOU CAN MONITOR THE LATEST STATEMENTS AND FORECASTS THROUGH LOCAL
MEDIA AND THE GRAND JUNCTION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEB SITE AT
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/GJT. YOU CAN ALSO FOLLOW THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE IN GRAND JUNCTION ON TWITTER OR FACEBOOK.

FOR ROAD CONDITIONS IN COLORADO...PLEASE VISIT WWW.COTRIP.ORG OR
DIAL 511. IN UTAH...PLEASE VISIT WWW.UDOT.UTAH.GOV OR DIAL 511.

COZ009-010-013-100030-
/O.CON.KGJT.WS.W.0005.000000T0000Z-130211T1900Z/
GRAND AND BATTLEMENT MESAS-
GORE AND ELK MOUNTAINS/CENTRAL MOUNTAIN VALLEYS-FLATTOPS-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...SKYWAY...ASPEN...VAIL...SNOWMASS...
BUFORD...TRAPPERS LAKE
927 AM MST SAT FEB 9 2013

...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON MST MONDAY...

* TIMING...PERIODS OF HEAVY SNOWFALL...WITH BLOWING AND DRIFTING
SNOW WILL CONTINUE TODAY. BY SUNDAY...THERE WILL BE LULLS IN
ACTIVITY WITH PERIODS OF HEAVY SNOWFALL STILL POSSIBLE THROUGH
MONDAY MORNING.

* SNOW ACCUMULATION...10 TO 20 INCHES IS EXPECTED WITH LOCALLY
HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE.

* WINDS...SOUTHWEST 15 TO 30 MPH...GUSTING TO 45 MPH OVER THE
HIGHER PEAKS THIS MORNING THEN BECOMING NORTHWEST 10 TO 20 MPH
BY THIS AFTERNOON.

* VISIBILITY...AT TIMES...LESS THAN 1/2 MILE IN HEAVY SNOWFALL.

* IMPACTS...ROADS THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS WILL BECOME ICY AND
SNOWPACKED WITH SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW CAUSING REDUCED
VISIBILITY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE
EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. STRONG WINDS AND BLOWING SNOW ARE ALSO
POSSIBLE. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE.

PLEASE VISIT WWW.COTRIP.ORG OR DIAL 511 FOR THE LATEST ROAD
CONDITIONS FROM THE COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (CDOT).

&&

$$


Hazardous Weather Outlook
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
407 AM MST SAT FEB 9 2013

COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-101115-
LOWER YAMPA RIVER BASIN-CENTRAL YAMPA RIVER BASIN-
ROAN AND TAVAPUTS PLATEAUS-ELKHEAD AND PARK MOUNTAINS-
UPPER YAMPA RIVER BASIN-GRAND VALLEY-DEBEQUE TO SILT CORRIDOR-
CENTRAL COLORADO RIVER BASIN-GRAND AND BATTLEMENT MESAS-
GORE AND ELK MOUNTAINS/CENTRAL MOUNTAIN VALLEYS-
CENTRAL GUNNISON AND UNCOMPAHGRE RIVER BASIN-
WEST ELK AND SAWATCH MOUNTAINS-FLATTOPS-
UPPER GUNNISON RIVER VALLEY-UNCOMPAHGRE PLATEAU AND DALLAS DIVIDE-
NORTHWEST SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS-SOUTHWEST SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS-
PARADOX VALLEY/LOWER DOLORES RIVER-
FOUR CORNERS/UPPER DOLORES RIVER-ANIMAS RIVER BASIN-
SAN JUAN RIVER BASIN-SOUTHEAST UTAH-EASTERN UINTA MOUNTAINS-
EASTERN UINTA BASIN-TAVAPUTS PLATEAU-ARCHES/GRAND FLAT-
LA SAL AND ABAJO MOUNTAINS-CANYONLANDS/NATURAL BRIDGES-
407 AM MST SAT FEB 9 2013

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN
COLORADO.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

WIDESPREAD MOUNTAIN SNOWFALL WILL SPREAD INTO THE VALLEYS TODAY AS
A COLD FRONT SWEEPS OVER THE REGION. NUMEROUS WINTER WEATHER
WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT FOR THE MOUNTAINS OF WESTERN
COLORADO AND EASTERN UTAH WITH VALLEY HIGHLIGHTS IN EFFECT THIS
MORNING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

MOUNTAIN SNOW AND VALLEY RAIN AND SNOW WILL CONTINUE SUNDAY
THROUGH MONDAY...WITH PERIODS OF HEAVY SNOW EXPECTED IN THE
MOUNTAINS AND THE VALLEYS OF SOUTHWEST AND NORTHWEST COLORADO. ALL
MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN WILL SEE SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATION THROUGH
THE WEEKEND. TRAVEL WILL BE DIFFICULT ACROSS MOUNTAIN PASSES DUE
TO THE SNOW...BLOWING SNOW...AND ICY SNOWPACKED ROADS.

AFTER MONDAY...UNSETTLED NORTHWEST WIND ALOFT WILL PRODUCE
OCCASIONAL SNOW SHOWERS IN THE COLORADO NORTHERN AND CENTRAL
MOUNTAINS THROUGH THURSDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.

$$

[mdblows]

Wolf Creek was great today, showed up at 830 to heavily falling snow that was working hard to cover the crust underneath. By the end of the day I was skiing mid calf to boot top deep off the Alberta lift. Easily 8-10" on my car when I finally got back to it at 3:30. Saw a car upside down and in the creek coming back down into South Fork, sketchy drive back from Wolfie

[hatchgreenchile]

Good snow from 10-3 at the Boat. Just light flakes now. Pioneer Ridge riding very deep.

[RonMexico]

Wolf Creek was great today, showed up at 830 to heavily falling snow that was working hard to cover the crust underneath. By the end of the day I was skiing mid calf to boot top deep off the Alberta lift. Easily 8-10" on my car when I finally got back to it at 3:30.

Sounds pretty sweet. Is it still coming down heavy?

Was super close to heading down there today, but the late start to the snow kept us local. Vail skied surprisingly well. The accumulations varied significantly based on where you were (more around Northwoods/Chair 4, less out in BS), but the new snow coupled with a few leftover pockets made for a solid day.

[mdblows]

Sounds pretty sweet. Is it still coming down heavy?

Was super close to heading down there today, but the late start to the snow kept us local. Vail skied surprisingly well. The accumulations varied significantly based on where you were (more around Northwoods/Chair 4, less out in BS), but the new snow coupled with a few leftover pockets made for a solid day.

I'm back in South Fork, no snow down here. When I left WC it was full on blizzard conditions, the drive back down the pass had visibility of 200 feet until about halfway back to SF.

[RonMexico]

I'm back in South Fork, no snow down here. When I left WC it was full on blizzard conditions, the drive back down the pass had visibility of 200 feet until about halfway back to SF.

Thanks. Last question - was the hike-to stuff open? Wondering if there were any closures that may be dropped after additional control work tomorrow.

[grskier]

Today was really nice at Snowmass.

report was 4" at 5 whatever then updated to 7"
Some areas were 9ish, most were a solid 6 to 7"

Got into a few old stashes that haven't been skied yet this year. Some rotten, some super nice

[montanaskier]

Pretty warm still.....27 as we head back to the village for music and Tele Big Air

[mdblows]

Thanks. Last question - was the hike-to stuff open? Wondering if there were any closures that may be dropped after additional control work tomorrow.

Not 100% sure. People were hiking the ridge accessible from above the Alberta lift but I'm not sure how much was open. Didn't venture up there myself due to low visibility all day, stuck to the trees

[smmokan]

Snowing here north of Boulder, but nothing at Loveland. Hopefully something kicks back up soon.

[Kevo]

Lots of stars here in Eagle County tonight. This storm is a bust.

[rmnpsplitter]

Starting to see some flakes flying in town. Nothing major but it's cloudy at least. No stars here.

[Crampedon]

Went for a massage at 5 pm in avon and it NUKED, for 20 minutes...

All good in back today, soft deep, but tourists had some amazing problems loading chairs, like I have never seen.