Date: 03/16/2016

Snowfall will quickly taper off in most areas this morning as the fast moving wave is races eastward. We can expect the higher elevations to hold onto light snow showers longer today as cold air advection in the wake of this system continues to create instability. West winds should begin to subside as well during the day, but tick upwards again tomorrow afternoon as our last weak wave cuts across Colorado and brings light snow accumulations.

Date: 03/15/2016

Snow will gradually taper off shortly after sunrise in most locations, with the highest terrain holding onto snow showers most the day. After a bit of a lull midday, another round of snow looks to develop across our area mountains mid-afternoon, with the heaviest snow falling after sunset. Strong west to northwest winds do not look like they will subside until after the large scale trough passes tomorrow. Temperatures look ideal for snow production over the next 24 hours with temperatures around -10ºC at 10,000ft and -25ºC at 18,000ft giving good instability for the orographic machine to churn.

Date: 03/14/2016

Strong winds (especially above 11,000ft), and occasional snow showers will be the theme for today’s weather. Colorado is under westerly flow with an incoming storm that will favor northern Colorado. The Central Mountains are on the southern edge of forecasted snowfall but we should still accumulate a few inches of new snow by tomorrow. Snow showers look to pick up late this afternoon and into tonight, as colder air starts pushing into Colorado from the northwest. This cold front will help snow accumulations across our forecast area, but at the same time available moisture looks to start drying out. So we’ll have to rely more on local orographics which will lead to better snow accumulation in the mountains west/north of crested butte. Snow showers will taper on Tuesday but we’ll continue to see partly cloudy skys and occasional snow showers into Wednesday.

Date: 03/13/2016

Clear skys and mild weather will start our day off, before the next round of pacific moisture starts arriving later this afternoon. With its arrival we’ll see building high clouds this afternoon and increasing winds tonight. Our central mountains will be on the southern edge of Mondays snowfall but we should still see some flurries tonight before picking up a few inches of snow on Monday. Winds look to stay elevated through the start of the week with periods of light snowfall.

Date: 3/12/16

A low pressure system will track across the desert Southwest today, and is already streaming moisture and mid-level clouds overhead this morning. There is a dry slot upstream of us which might offer some breaks in cloud cover this morning before the brunt of the system spreads northwards across our mountains later this afternoon. Snow totals looks to be in the 1-3″ range, but some convective cells could produce localized higher amounts. Dry air will follow in the wake of this system on Sunday. Sunday evening kicks off an extended period of moist zonal to northwest flow, supported by the jet stream. We can look forward to a foot of snow or more by mid-week.

Date: 03/11/2016

Pack your beach towel, sunscreen, and favorite cold beverage. Today will bring the heat again, a couple of degrees warmer than yesterday with some thin high clouds overhead. Flow becomes warmer and out of the southwest ahead of a low pressure trough moving onshore today. As that system rides south of our mountains, we’ll see cloud cover thicken overnight into tomorrow, and the potential for some light snowfall on Saturday. Brief ridging brings back dry weather on Sunday before a more potent system develops for early next week.

Date: 03/10/2016

The big story of the day will be soaring high temperatures as the ridge of high pressure builds today and tomorrow. Light winds and clear skies will allow that strengthening mid-March sun the bring high temperatures into the 40s at most locations. Looking ahead, Saturday looks like next chance for a few inches of snow, before a larger trough of low pressure churns out of the Pacific and ushers in stormy and snowy weather for early next week.

Date: 03/09/2016

A weakening upper level trough pokes into northwestern Colorado this afternoon, increasing clouds and potentially a flurry, but accumulating snow looks like a long shot. Expect warming temperatures and light southwest winds to finish out the work week as a ridge builds. This weekend, the once promising piece of energy looks to have weakened, and only a few inches seem possible. It seems like a broken record now…but next week…the pattern changes….this time, it is looking better for a significant storm Monday, Tuesday and beyond.

Date: 03/08/2016

A diving trough of low pressure along the California coast will close off over Baja this morning and spin moisture into southwestern Colorado. This energy is not very organized and will give our area mountains showery snowfall and increased cloudiness through most the day. Daytime heating has the potential with this moist system to spur isolated thunderstorms and quick bursts of heavier showers today. The rest of the week looks unsettled, but nothing significant until next weekend.

Date: 03/07/2016

Welcome back winter! The elongated low pressure system and associated cold front swung through the Elk Mountains last night and are now rotating northeast towards Wyoming. Lingering snow showers should wind down through the day under moderate alpine winds. The next Pacific system moves on shore this evening, but drops down to Mexico as it progresses inland. We can expect conditions to mostly dry out for the rest of the week, with a chance for some light snowfall on Wednesday as that larger system wraps moisture around to our south and east.