Date: 03/29/2020

The stars are out this morning and we should have a nice sunrise, but clouds are on their way for Sunday. An approaching shortwave will put us in southwest flow today and moisture ahead of that storm will be pushing high clouds into the area. If not sooner, we’ll be under cloud cover by mid-day. We may see some very light snowfall in the Ruby Range this afternoon, but snow showers don’t look to get going until sunset or this evening. For the mountains west and north of Crested Butte, 2 to 4” tonight and 2 to 4” for tomorrow still looks like the range of snow.

Heading into Tuesday and the week ahead, it looks like we’ll be sitting under dry westerly flow. Any snow is looking to stay to our north at the moment.

• Today

  High Temperature: 30 to 34
  Winds/Direction: 5 to 15/WSW
  Sky Cover: Increasing clouds
  Irwin Snow: 0 to 1
  Elkton Snow: 0 to 1
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0 to 1

• Tonight

  Low Temperature: 12 to 16
  Winds/Direction: 2 to 12/SW
  Sky Cover: Overcast
  Irwin Snow: 2 to 4
  Elkton Snow: 2 to 4
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 1 to 3

• Tomorrow

  High Temperature: 30 to 34
  Winds/Direction: 5 to 15/WNW
  Sky Cover: Overcast
  Irwin Snow: 2 to 4
  Elkton Snow: 2 to 4
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 1 to 3

Date: 03/28/2020

This morning we are sitting under northwest flow behind the last storm that has headed east. The change to west then northwest flow overnight has produced some good snow numbers out Kebler Pass. As of 5am 6” looks to have accumulated overnight with storm totals there now reaching 11”. Only a couple inches of snow apparel to have accumulated near Crested Butte.

Low-level moisture will keep some lingering snow showers going this morning. Mainly to the west and north of Crested Butte. Otherwise, we are in a drying trend as we move under some brief ridging.

Sunday starts off dry, then we’ll see increasing high-level clouds through the day creating mostly cloudy sky as the next low-pressure trough begins pushing moisture in on southwest flow. Snow showers start-up in the late afternoon or evening. By Monday morning we are looking at 2 to 4” of snow, then we should double that by the evening.

• Today

  High Temperature: 24 to 28
  Winds/Direction: 7 to 17/NW
  Sky Cover: Partly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 0 to 2
  Elkton Snow: 0 to 2
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0 to 1

• Tonight

  Low Temperature: 8 to 12
  Winds/Direction: 5 to 15/W
  Sky Cover: Partly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 0 to 1
  Elkton Snow: 0 to 1
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0 to 1

• Tomorrow

  High Temperature: 30 to 34
  Winds/Direction: 5 to 15/WSW
  Sky Cover: Increasing clouds
  Irwin Snow: 0 to 1
  Elkton Snow: 0 to 1
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0 to 1

Date: 03/27/2020

The low-pressure system over the Great Basin will continue to slide towards Colorado today bringing an increase in cloud cover and light snowfall. The brutally fast jet stream will finally push to the east of Crested Butte in the middle of the day. Snowfall will be showery in nature for much of the day with some convective potential to increase snowfall rates. The flow will shift more westerly today and the air mass will cool to some degree. Snowfall totals do not look impressive but the area could pick up 5 to 9 inches by Saturday morning. Saturday the area will be under a cool northwest flow on the backside of this system which may keep light snow showers going for terrain that have positive orographics under northwest flow like Kebler Pass and Paradise Divide areas.

Skies will clear late Saturday and into Sunday morning before the next storm system approaches. Moisture will begin to reach Colorado sometime during the second half of Sunday. This storm does not currently look impressive, but we will watch it as it develops and moves closer to Colorado.

• Today

  High Temperature: 25 to 29
  Winds/Direction: 9 to 19/WSW decreasing in afternoon
  Sky Cover: Mostly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 2 to 4″
  Elkton Snow: 2 to 4″
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 2 to 4″

• Tonight

  Low Temperature: 6 to 10
  Winds/Direction: 6 to 16/NW
  Sky Cover: Mostly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 2 to 4″
  Elkton Snow: 2 to 4″
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 2 to 4″

• Tomorrow

  High Temperature: 24 to 29
  Winds/Direction: 7 to 17/WNW
  Sky Cover: Mostly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 1 to 3″
  Elkton Snow: 1 to 3″
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0 to 2″

Date: 03/26/2020

A large low-pressure trough is dominating the weather pattern in the mountain west. An exceptionally strong jet stream is moving directly above Colorado early this morning and will remain over the state for much of the day. The area is under a heavy southwest flow. The strong jet produced gusts up to 80mph last night and is expected to persist much of the day. Along with the strong winds much warmer air pushed into the area setting freezing levels near 10,500 feet in elevation. There is relatively little moisture associated with this system but a few flakes might fall today.

As the low-pressure trough moves eastward today, it will push the jet stream to the east of Colorado bringing a reprieve from the winds. The small amount of moisture will arrive on Friday as the trough axis approaches, but accumulation do not look impressive. Air temperatures will cool as the trough approaches to below seasonal norms. The Crested Butte area may sneak out a handful of inches by Friday night with the best chance of accumulating snow coming on Friday evening and into the night.

• Today

  High Temperature: 34 to 38
  Winds/Direction: 20 to 30/SW G60
  Sky Cover: Mostly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 0 to 1″
  Elkton Snow: 0 to 1″
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0 to 1″

• Tonight

  Low Temperature: 14 to 18
  Winds/Direction: 6 to 16/SW
  Sky Cover: Partly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 0 to 1″
  Elkton Snow: 0 to 1″
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0 to 1″

• Tomorrow

  High Temperature: 28 to 32
  Winds/Direction: 8 to 18/WSW
  Sky Cover: Mostly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 0 to 2″
  Elkton Snow: 0 to 2″
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0 to 2″

Date: 03/25/2020

A large trough over the Pacific NW will slowly migrate southeast today bringing a strong 170 kt jet stream directly over Colorado. This will leave our area under WSW flow which will transition to SW tonight and tomorrow as the trough digs south. That strong jet stream will drive winds to the surface again today with some enhancement from afternoon heating. Expect passing clouds, warm temperatures, and gusty winds through the day and into this evening with a slight chance of a passing snow shower.

Similar conditions look to develop tomorrow as the trough pulls closer to Colorado. SW winds will be strong and gusty with passing clouds and similar highs as today. The main trough move through Friday with increasing chances of snow and cooler temperatures.

• Today

  High Temperature: 35 to 40
  Winds/Direction: 15 to 25/WSW G40
  Sky Cover: Partly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 0 to 1″
  Elkton Snow: 0 to 1″
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0 to 1″

• Tonight

  Low Temperature: 23 to 27
  Winds/Direction: 15 to 25/SW
  Sky Cover: Partly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 0
  Elkton Snow: 0
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0

• Tomorrow

  High Temperature: 35 to 40
  Winds/Direction: 15 to 25/SW G35
  Sky Cover: Partly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 0 to 1″
  Elkton Snow: 0 to 1″
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0 to 1″

Date: 03/24/2020

Well, the storm came, now it is going, and what happened in between? Not a lot. At 5am this morning we are currently looking at 3.8 centimeters of new snow!! That sounds a lot better than 1.5 inches. The upper atmosphere has dried out, but we still have low-level residual moisture hanging out. So we should continue seeing some light snow this morning before the sky becomes more partly cloudy later today. The cloud forecast is a bit uncertain with the low-level moisture is going to play out.

Looking at the rest of the week. we stay on the dry side of the line until Thursday, but again we will see some flakes here and there as it looks like we’ll continue to have some low-level moisture about. The big change coming up will be the wind. A strong 150kt jet moves overhead tonight as we look ahead to a windy midweek. The alpine is going to get blown, and we’ll also see some strong winds mixing down to lower elevations.

Another low-pressure system will be moving across the desert southwest later this week and line up as our next storm. Snow will probably begin with that storm late on Thursday.

• Today

  High Temperature: 33 to 37
  Winds/Direction: 10 to 20/SW
  Sky Cover: Partly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 0 to 1
  Elkton Snow: 0 to 1
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0 to 1

• Tonight

  Low Temperature: 22 to 26
  Winds/Direction: 12 to 22 G45, WSW
  Sky Cover: Partly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 0 to 1
  Elkton Snow: 0 to 1
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0 to 1

• Tomorrow

  High Temperature: 33 to 37
  Winds/Direction: 10 to 20 G40, WSW
  Sky Cover: Partly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 0 to 1
  Elkton Snow: 0 to 1
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0 to 1

Date: 03/23/2020

Monday starts off with a period that we may have few clouds, as clouds that have been pushed in on southwesterly flow decrease, and we await the next storm arriving this afternoon. A small storm is moving across Nevada this morning. We’ll see increasing cloud cover today ahead of that storm, with precipitation starting in the afternoon. A general 4 to 8” of snow accumulating by tomorrow still looks about right. There is a chance we could see some heavy snow showers if we luck out with a piece of good convection passing overhead late this afternoon or this evening.

We are also going to see continued winds with the southern jet stream passing overhead and upper elevation gusts in the 45 to 55 MPH range.

We have some drier air aloft moving overhead for Tuesday, then we’ll land in unsettled weather for the remainder of the week. The next good looking storm arrives around Friday.

• Today

  High Temperature: 30 to 34
  Winds/Direction: 10 to 20/SW
  Sky Cover: Mostly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 2 to 4pm
  Elkton Snow: 2 to 4pm
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 2 to 4pm

• Tonight

  Low Temperature: 18 to 22
  Winds/Direction: 12 to 22/W
  Sky Cover: Overcast
  Irwin Snow: 3 to 5
  Elkton Snow: 3 to 5
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 2 to 4

• Tomorrow

  High Temperature: 31 to 35
  Winds/Direction: 12 to 22 G30, WSW
  Sky Cover: Partly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 0 to 1
  Elkton Snow: 0 to 1
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0 to 1

Date: 03/22/2020

The brief summary; small or quick storms keep moving through our area today, Monday, and later in the week. This is going to keep snow surfaces fresh and riding quality high. Yea baby.

A shortwave is currently moving across central and northern Colorado this morning. We’ll see snow showers during the AM hours, then drying in the PM hours today. Looks like we could have a nice, late afternoon, on our hands with partly cloudy sky. Unfortunately, we are starting to catch the edge of increased upper-level winds. Alpine weather stations are showing an increase in the wind this morning and look to remain in the 15 to 25mph range with some stronger gusts.

Dry weather continues overnight and into Monday morning. The next storm will bring increasing clouds on Monday with precipitation starting in the afternoon. By Tuesday morning we are looking at those snow accumulations stacking up in the 4 to 8” range. I’ll take it.

Dryer westerly flow sets up for Tuesday before more unsettled weather returns for the 2nd half of the week.

• Today

  High Temperature: 30 to 34
  Winds/Direction: 8 to 18/W
  Sky Cover: Increasing clouds
  Irwin Snow: 1 to 3
  Elkton Snow: 1 to 3
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0 to 2

• Tonight

  Low Temperature: 14 to 18
  Winds/Direction: 5 to 15/SW
  Sky Cover: Mostly Clear
  Irwin Snow: 0
  Elkton Snow: 0
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0

• Tomorrow

  High Temperature: 30 to 34
  Winds/Direction: 10 to 20/SW
  Sky Cover: Mostly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 3 to 5PM
  Elkton Snow: 3 to 5PM
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 2 to 4PM

Date: 03/21/2020

The Crested Butte area is sitting under a westerly flow which continues to spit modest amounts of moisture towards the area. This pattern will continue for Saturday and Sunday offering light snowfall, cooler than normal temperatures, and mostly cloudy skies. Winds will remain moderate out of the southwest for the next 36 hours. Skies may begin to clear a bit on Sunday afternoon. The next significant storm system is projected to move inland early next week on Monday. This storm’s timing and track are a bit uncertain, but it appears as though it might bring back healthy snow accumulations to the area.

• Today

  High Temperature: 29 to 33
  Winds/Direction: 5 to 15/SW
  Sky Cover: Mostly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 1 to 3″
  Elkton Snow: 1 to 3″
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 1 to 3″

• Tonight

  Low Temperature: 15 to 19
  Winds/Direction: 7 to 17/WSW
  Sky Cover: Overcast
  Irwin Snow: 1 to 3″
  Elkton Snow: 1 to 3″
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 1 to 3″

• Tomorrow

  High Temperature: 31 to 35
  Winds/Direction: 8 to 18/W
  Sky Cover: Mostly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 1 to 3″
  Elkton Snow: 1 to 3″
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 1 to 3″

Date: 03/20/2020

The Crested Butte area will sit under a southwest flow today which will bring continued cloud cover and light snow showers to the area. Light snowfall will continue through early Saturday morning, but accumulations during this period look to produce only a couple of additional inches. Air temperatures remain below seasonal norms reaching into the mid-twenties. Winds have relaxed since yesterday’s blustery conditions.

Expect clouds and snow showers to linger through the weekend. The weather pattern looks to remain active over the next week, but snow totals look relatively modest. Early next week, around Monday night, looks to be the next significant storm impacting the area.

• Today

  High Temperature: 24 to 28
  Winds/Direction: 5 to 15/SW
  Sky Cover: Mostly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 1 to 3″
  Elkton Snow: 1 to 3″
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 1 to 3″

• Tonight

  Low Temperature: 9 to 13
  Winds/Direction: 4 to 14/WSW
  Sky Cover: Mostly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 0 to 2″
  Elkton Snow: 0 to 2″
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 0 to 2″

• Tomorrow

  High Temperature: 29 to 33
  Winds/Direction: 5 to 15/WSW
  Sky Cover: Mostly Cloudy
  Irwin Snow: 1 to 3″
  Elkton Snow: 1 to 3″
  Friend’s Hut Snow: 1 to 3″