Date: 02/18/2017

A deep Pacific trough is making landfall on the California/Baja coast this morning, but unfortunately the bulk of energy and precipitation will remain near the coast. Moisture is streaming from the southwest, and we should see some snow showers today, and a couple inches at best. Snowfall becomes more favorable Sunday afternoon and evening with the arrival of cooler air from the northwest. Winds and temperatures remain mild through the weekend.

Date: 02/17/2017

High-level clouds will gradually thicken through the day ahead of the next system. A deep Pacific trough will begin to move onshore and eastward over the weekend, centered over the Mexican border. Sorry Teo, it looks like you’re gonna have to open at 11 a.m. tomorrow. Accumulations look to be minor from the first phase of this relatively warm, southerly system. The higher elevations could pick up 2-5″ by Saturday evening, while valley bottom will see mixed precipitation forms again. Active weather remains in the forecast into next week.

Date: 02/16/2017

Another absurdly beautiful day is on tap, with temperatures approaching record highs yet again as the high pressure ridge slides east across Colorado. A deep trough makes landfall on the Baja Coast by Saturday, which will issue in warm moisture under southwest flow. Look for cloud cover to increase tomorrow and snow flurries to kick of Friday night, with mixed precipitation below 10,000 feet. Storm totals look to be on the light side for this one — less than 6 inches.

Date: 02/15/2017

With high pressure stuck over the Great Basin, we’ll see the warming trend continue under light northerly winds. Look for temperatures to rise 5 to 10 degrees warmer than yesterday. Our next weather maker starts to make changes on Friday, with clouds increasing under warm southwest flow ahead of a closed low system.

Date: 02/14/2017

It froze! #itreallybelowfreezing! That may be the first hashtag in CBAC’s weather forecast but I’m really excited about his. Crested Butte is in the single digits this morning while 11,000ft temperatures are in the teens. This will be the theme the week as a high pressure ridge builds. We’ll likely see valley inversions each morning and dry weather through Thursday. Today, wrap around flow from a low pressure moving southeast of Colorado is helping drag in some colder air from the north. Helping shield us from what could be a rapped warm up. Winds look to remain light out of the northeast with mostly clear sky today.

Date: 02/17/2017

The low pressure that was streaming moisture into our area on southwest flow has moved inland over the Mexico border and is now pushing that moisture into Colorado on south flow. South flow is going to leave us mostly high and dry today with mostly cloudy sky. The jet stream and main weather flow is north of Colorado leaving us in the no man’s land between these two weather features. This allows continued calm winds today. That low pressure will continue to move east creating up flow events in areas such as the Front Range. For us, we’ll see a drying trend this evening and a high pressure ridge building for the week.

Date: 02/12/2017

The cold front arrived early last night, and with that we’ve seen a decrease in temperatures. 9,000ft low temperatures finally dipped to below freezing, after being above freezing for nearly 48 hours. A low-pressure system is being cut off from the main flow and will track to our south though Monday, while the main flow is north of Colorado. This has left us in sort of a no man’s land. We’ll see light winds today and mostly light snow showers as that low-pressure sends moisture into the area on south flow. Models are showing 5 to 7 inches for our area today, but my confidence in this is low given a south flow direction, light winds and little atmospheric lift available. After Monday we’ll see a drying trend heading into next week.

Date: 02/11/2017

A closed low off of the California coast is streaming unusually warm Pacific moisture into Colorado today, supported by a 130 kt jet stream. We will see a lull in precipitation this morning with the freezing level hovering around 10,000 feet. A cold front sags south into the Elks around mid-day, sparking heavy snowfall at all elevations. Look for another foot or more to accumulate by tomorrow morning, with winds gradually easing through the storm.

Date: 02/10/2017

Warm, moist southwest flow will be moving into Colorado on the tail of an exiting high pressure ridge. We’ll see cloud cover and gusty winds increase through the day under unseasonably warm temperatures as the next Pacific system takes aim. Snowfall begins around sunset, and I use that term loosely. The freezing level will be hovering near or just above town, so precipitation may fall as graupel, slop, or the R word. The mountains should pick up 5″ or so of dense snow overnight. Thankfully a cold front is forecast to swing through on Saturday, boosting cold snow production with another half foot of snow or more.

Date: 02/09/2017

Some morning cloudiness will give way to sunny, and warm conditions today ahead of our next major winter storm arriving tomorrow afternoon. We will see strong solar radiation, light winds, and unseasonably warm temperatures approaching the 40º mark. It’ll be a cooker. On Friday, southerly winds will steadily increase throughout the day, bringing another day of very warm temperatures. Clouds will then thicken mid afternoon, with snow beginning late Friday evening. Models will continue to clarify the accumulation picture, but at this point, the weekend storm is looking like another warm, dense, 1-2 feet of snow. Accumulations already look to hinge on how quickly that rain changes to snow…Yes, rain below 10,000ft changing to snow. But today, SUN!