Date: 01/05/2019

We will have another clear and cold start to the morning with the valleys once again diving below zero. Above the valley inversions, temperatures will again rise into the upper 30s, before high clouds begin to stream into Colorado early afternoon ahead of Sunday’s snow, and put a lid on the warm-up. Southwest winds will gradually increase throughout the day. Tonight through Monday looks like a solid snowmaker for the Elk Mountains with strong upper-level support that shifts from southwest to west orographics (wind direction) throughout the storm and could result in accumulations over 12” in the favored Kebler Pass and West Elks, as well as areas east of Crested Butte.

• Today

  High Temperature: 35
  Winds/Direction: 15-25/SW G40s
  Sky Cover: Increasing clouds
  Irwin Snow: 0
  Elkton Snow: 0
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0

• Tonight

  Low Temperature: 25
  Winds/Direction: 15-25/SW
  Sky Cover: Mostly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 1-3″
  Elkton Snow: 1-3″
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0-2″

• Tomorrow

  High Temperature: 24
  Winds/Direction: 15-25/W G40s
  Sky Cover: Mostly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 10-14″
  Elkton Snow: 8-12″
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 8-10″

Date: 01/04/2019

Its another cold, clear and inverted morning. Valley temperatures are near or below 0, while 11,000ft temperatures are sitting in the mid 20’s. High temperatures in the mountains will creep above freezing and feel very warm with another clear sky day. Saturday will be a transition to the next storm with clouds building in the afternoon as good moisture starts to arrive on southwest flow. Fingers crossed, this is looking like a good one, with snow showers developing Saturday night and continuing through Sunday. Big money, 6-12” of snow by Monday morning. A temporarily high-pressure ridge looks to build back in for the upcoming mid-week.

• Today

  High Temperature: 30 to 35
  Winds/Direction: 5 to 15 W
  Sky Cover: Clear
  Irwin Snow: 0
  Elkton Snow: 0
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0

• Tonight

  Low Temperature: 23 to 28
  Winds/Direction: 5 to 15 WSW
  Sky Cover: Clear
  Irwin Snow: 0
  Elkton Snow: 0
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0

• Tomorrow

  High Temperature: 30 to 35
  Winds/Direction: 5 to 15 SW
  Sky Cover: Increasing clouds
  Irwin Snow: 0
  Elkton Snow: 0
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0

Date:01/03/2019

Inverted weather is back. Low temps down in Gunnison are -19, Crested Butte -8, while at 11,000ft the low temp is around a positive 19. Temperatures will be much slower to rebound today down in the valleys, and climb back up much quicker in the mountains for another beautiful sunny day. This weather will continue until Saturday. Moisture will start reaching it tentacles up from the SW and with the arrival of our next storm starting sometime Saturday afternoon with snow developing by Saturday evening or Sunday Morning.

• Today

  High Temperature: 28 to 33
  Winds/Direction: 5 to 15 NW
  Sky Cover: Clear
  Irwin Snow: 0
  Elkton Snow: 0
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0

• Tonight

  Low Temperature: 18 to 23
  Winds/Direction: 2 to 12, NW
  Sky Cover: Clear
  Irwin Snow: 0
  Elkton Snow: 0
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0

• Tomorrow

  High Temperature: 31 to 36
  Winds/Direction: 5 to 15, W
  Sky Cover: Clear
  Irwin Snow: 0
  Elkton Snow: 0
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0

Date: 01/02/2019

How about some arctic beach weather to close out the week! Sound fun honey? Well, it better because that’s what you are going to get! It is frigid cold out there this morning, but that big ball of fire will rise with a clear sky, hints the arctic beach weather. The wind has gone on vacation too, as we’ll have calm conditions for the next couple of days. Temperature inversions will set up as well for the remainder of the work week and we’ll struggle to predict high/low temperatures at 11,000ft vs what you are feeling down in the valleys. Moisture looks to arrive on southwest flow toward the end of Saturday and that’s what we’ll be looking at for our next storm.

• Today

  High Temperature: 25
  Winds/Direction: 0 to 10, NE
  Sky Cover: Clear
  Irwin Snow: 0
  Elkton Snow: 0
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0

• Tonight

  Low Temperature: 12
  Winds/Direction: 0 to 10, N
  Sky Cover: Clear
  Irwin Snow: 0
  Elkton Snow: 0
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0

• Tomorrow

  High Temperature: 27
  Winds/Direction: 0 t 10, NNW
  Sky Cover: Clear
  Irwin Snow: 0
  Elkton Snow: 0
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0

Date: 01/01/2019

The New Years storm will begin to clear out of the central Rockies by midday, as will most hangovers. The storm delivered 6-12” as expected across our zone under quiet calm conditions. The reinforcing cold front oozed its way into the Elk Mountains throughout the evening hours, ticking snowfall rates, increasing winds and dragging with it some arctic air. Temperatures are below zero in the Alpine and will struggle to climb into double digits today. Winds should remain tolerable, but windchill will be biting.

Cold, dry, arctic high pressure takes hold for the first few days of 2019, but our eyes are now turning to the subtropical Pacific where our next batch of moisture is organizing. This weekend system will be much warmer, and we may deal will heavy wet snow and rain/snow lines and potentially freezing rain at lower elevations. Stay tuned, still quite a ways out.

• Today

  High Temperature: 12
  Winds/Direction: 10-15/SE
  Sky Cover: Decreasing clouds
  Irwin Snow: 1-3″
  Elkton Snow: 1-3″
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0-2″

• Tonight

  Low Temperature: -3
  Winds/Direction: 5-15/NE
  Sky Cover: Mostly Clear
  Irwin Snow: 0
  Elkton Snow: 0
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0

• Tomorrow

  High Temperature: 18
  Winds/Direction: 0-10/NE
  Sky Cover: Mostly Clear
  Irwin Snow: 0
  Elkton Snow: 0
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0

Date: 12/31/2018

A developing and intensifying winter storm will continue to slide into Colorado from the desert southwest today and churn through the day and into the new year. Though the meat of the system and favorable orographics will sag across the Four Corners and along the southern Colorado/New Mexico border, the western half of our forecast area should receive a solid 4-8+” of low density snow before the sun pops out for the rest of the week. Favorable NW flow will kick off the storm and slowly transition to more westerly orographics as the system slides southeast. Model trends over the last 24 hours have been increasing accumulations, but winds look somewhat unfavorable, so some uncertainty remains.

• Today

  High Temperature: 15
  Winds/Direction: 10-15/SE
  Sky Cover: Mostly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 3-6″
  Elkton Snow: 2-4″
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 1-3″

• Tonight

  Low Temperature: -5
  Winds/Direction: 15-25/WSW
  Sky Cover: Mostly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 3-6″
  Elkton Snow: 2-4″
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 2-4″

• Tomorrow

  High Temperature: 18
  Winds/Direction: 10-15/NE
  Sky Cover: Decreasing clouds
  Irwin Snow: 0-2″ AM
  Elkton Snow: 0-2″ AM
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0-2″ AM

Date: 12/30/2018

Snow will be returning to western Colorado today and continue into tomorrow with accumulating snowfall. This system is moving down from the NW and will slide towards the Four Corners area by Monday. Favored locations to the west and north of town could see accumulations close to the 10-inch mark while areas closer to town and to the east will be below double digits by Tuesday morning. The bulk of the snowfall will come during the day on Monday. Winds will be moderate from the NW swinging to the W and finishing from the S as the storm passes by the area. Looks like we are going to start the new year with fresh and fun riding conditions.

• Today

  High Temperature: 20 to 25
  Winds/Direction: 10 to 20, WNW
  Sky Cover: Mostly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 0 to 1
  Elkton Snow: 0 to 1
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0 to 1

• Tonight

  Low Temperature: 3 to 8
  Winds/Direction: 10 to 20, W
  Sky Cover: Overcast
  Irwin Snow: 1 to 3
  Elkton Snow: 1 to 3
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 1 to 3

• Tomorrow

  High Temperature: 10 to 15
  Winds/Direction: 10 to 20, SSW
  Sky Cover: Overcast
  Irwin Snow: 4 to 8
  Elkton Snow: 4 to 8
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 3 to 6

Date: 12/29/2018

Low clouds and a few snowflakes are lingering around the area, but there are stars visible this morning in the valley. Expect these low-level clouds to dissipate during the first half of the day leaving the area cold and mostly clear. Sunday will warm up a bit from today with increasing clouds. The next snow maker will start to impact the area on Sunday afternoon with accumulating snow through Monday. This system could produce modest accumulations with around 6 inches but nothing exceptional is expected.

• Today

  High Temperature: 13 to 18
  Winds/Direction: 7 to 17, WNW
  Sky Cover: Mostly Clear
  Irwin Snow: 0
  Elkton Snow: 0
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0

• Tonight

  Low Temperature: -3 to 3
  Winds/Direction: 5 to 15, NW
  Sky Cover: Mostly Clear
  Irwin Snow: 0
  Elkton Snow: 0
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0

• Tomorrow

  High Temperature: 20 to 25
  Winds/Direction: 5 to 15, WNW
  Sky Cover: Mostly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 0 to 1
  Elkton Snow: 0 to 1
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0 to 1

Date: 12/28/2018

A low-pressure system is currently spinning across the four corners region this morning pushing moisture up from the south. Most of this moisture will not make it past the San Juan Mountains but you can expect a few inches of accumulations today in the Crested Butte area. Snowfall will likely be finished by tonight as the system pushes off to the east of Colorado. Saturday will be a dry day with cold temperatures. The next chance at precipitation will come on Sunday evening as a trough moves through the forecast area offering modest snowfall potential.

• Today

  High Temperature: 10 to 15
  Winds/Direction: 5 to 15, SE
  Sky Cover: Mostly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 0 to 2
  Elkton Snow: 0 to 2
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0 to 2

• Tonight

  Low Temperature: -3 to -8
  Winds/Direction: 0 to 10, SW
  Sky Cover: Mostly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 0 to 2
  Elkton Snow: 0 to 2
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0 to 2

• Tomorrow

  High Temperature: 14 to 19
  Winds/Direction: 3 to 13, WNW
  Sky Cover: Partly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 0
  Elkton Snow: 0
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0

Date: 12/27/2018

A closed low is to our south, unfortunately it looks like the San Juans will block a large majority of the precipitation from reaching this zone. Today will remain mostly clear with clouds increasing this evening. Our best shot at any new snow will be tonight through tomorrow morning with accumulations in the 1-2″ range. Day time temperatures will remain in the teens on average for the next two days with lows in the single digits at night. Winds should remain light with a slight shift tomorrow morning when winds will be out of the south east gusting into the teens. For the start of the weekend a small ridge develops while we wait for the next low off the pacific coast to arrive Sunday.

• Today

  High Temperature: 20
  Winds/Direction: 3-5,WSW
  Sky Cover: Partly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 0
  Elkton Snow: 0
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0

• Tonight

  Low Temperature: -1
  Winds/Direction: 3-5, SE
  Sky Cover: Overcast
  Irwin Snow: 0-1
  Elkton Snow: 0-1
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0-1

• Tomorrow

  High Temperature: 18
  Winds/Direction: 3-5, SE
  Sky Cover: Mostly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 0-1
  Elkton Snow: 0-1
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0-1