Most significant snowfall yet to hit Colorado鈥檚 High Country this weekend, with potentially a foot of accumulation in central mountains
The state鈥檚 southwestern areas will see the most snow accumulation in what one meteorologist said could be a turning point for the season
Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily archive
After a persistent dry spell this fall in Colorado’s High Country that saw only short-lived bursts of precipitation, the first major snow storm of the season is headed this way.
From Thursday evening into late Saturday, Colorado’s central mountain region could see as much as a foot of snow accumulation in high-elevation areas, with snowfall possible at as low as 8,000 feet.
“It had been months since we’ve had a storm system get down to our latitude,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Paul Schlatter. “The good thing for the mountains is, once the storm system approaches Colorado, it kind of slows down and parks itself.”
Schlatter said snowfall should be fairly consistent throughout Thursday and Saturday, with Saturday morning seeing the peak of activity for what he called “the most significant precipitation event so far this fall.”
Daytime high temperatures could only reach into the 40s in valley areas. Snow and ice could be present on mountain passes and even near the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels on Saturday morning.
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“But other than Saturday morning we don’t think the roads will be more than wet,” Schlatter said.
While several inches of snow accumulation is possible in town areas, Schlatter said the bulk of the snow will develop “well above 9,000 and 10,000 feet.”
With the storm system concentrated primarily around the Four Corners region, Schlatter said the most snowfall is expected to be in the San Juan Range and Wolf Creek Pass, which are “absolutely going to get clobbered.”
Central mountain areas like Summit and Eagle counties could see around a foot of snow before the end of the week, while Pitkin County may net closer to 4-8 inches, Schlatter said. Northern Colorado, including Steamboat Springs, is expected to see significantly less snowfall, with several inches possible in the highest elevation spots.聽
Precipitation will still be possible on Sunday, but weather will be drier and warmer come Monday, with daytime temperatures expected to rebound to highs in the 50s and 60s later that week.
Looking further ahead, the shows Colorado has equal chances of seeing above- or below-normal temperature and precipitation for the final weeks of October and first week of November.
In a on OpenSnow.com, founding meteorologist Joel Gratz wrote there is a “decently high chance for additional storms” before the end of October.
“We may see some showers and cool air linger from October 20-22 (depending on the track of the storm from October 18-20), and then the signal is for another storm to arrive sometime around the weekend of October 26-27,” Gratz wrote.
The prediction center’s three-month forecast, however, shows a slightly elevated chance the state will have above-average temperature and below-average precipitation through December.
That’s to be expected with the transition into a La Nina winter, which refers to a weather pattern generally characterized by more precipitous, cooler weather in the north and drier, warmer weather in the south. Despite a warmer and dryer start, La Nina patterns have, in past years, delivered strong snowfall during the core of the winter season.
“La Nina years can, oftentimes, hit our central and northern mountains pretty good,” Schlatter said.
This week’s approaching storm could be a turning point for the fall season, which has so far been mired in mostly above-average, dry temperatures, Schlatter said.
“It’s been a really persistent ridge of high pressure over the western U.S. which keeps us warm and dry and puts the storm track along the Canadian border,” he said. “Hopefully, it spells the end of that really persistent ridge 鈥� sometimes it takes a good storm like this to alter the weather pattern over the U.S.”
