Date: 02/15/2016

We’ll continue to see mostly cloudy skys today and maybe another 1-2” of snow mostly in the western portion of our forecast area. Otherwise the high pressure ride over the western US will take old again and return us to dry weather for Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesdays high temperatures look like they may be the warmest of the year. The next weather system will return us to unsettled weather by Thursday. I haven’t looked closely at this Thursday system and while we’ll likely see some kind of snow with it, it also looks to bring very strong winds, unfortunately.

Date: 02/14/2016

The big old ridge of high pressure responsible for our dry weather is letting moisture spill over its top today, before rebuilding Monday night and returning us to dry weather next week. Northern Colorado will start seeing snow this morning while we’ll have to wait until this afternoon to see that moisture move into the central mountains. There isn’t much instability in the atmosphere during this period so we’ll mainly be relying on orographic lift from northwest flow to produce our snow. So we’ll likely see the classic snow accumulation west of Crested Butte, with only a dusting here in town.

Date: 02/13/2016

A brief change in our stagnant weather pattern begins this afternoon. A weak trough passes to our north over the weekend, bringing increasing clouds and winds with cooler temperatures by tomorrow. Moist, northwest flow follows in its wake, and should spread light snowfall to the favored snow belt by Sunday night. We can hope for a few inches to refresh the surface before high pressure re-establishes next week.

Date: 02/12/2016

Second verse, same as the first. The sunny and clear weather continues today under high pressure parked over the Great Basin. The high pressure ridge flattens on Saturday, allowing several weak shortwaves to pass to our north over the weekend. This brings an increase in clouds on Saturday and the chance for light snowfall spreading south to our mountains by Sunday night. The ridge re-establishes next week.

Date: 02/11/2016

A ridge of high pressure continues to dominate over the western US. Today will see high temperatures a couple degrees warmer then yesterday. We still have strong valley inversions with lows near or below zero, while higher elevations between 11 and 12,000ft low temperatures where in the 25-28 degree range this morning. The ridge of high pressure will flatten slightly this weekend as a shortwave trough passes to our north. The northern mountains are expected to get some snow but it’s looking like we’re too far south. We have some chance of seeing a few flakes around the Sunday time frame as a shortwave digs a bit further south. The Ridge of high pressure then reestablishes heading into next week.

Date: 02/10/2016

Remember that ridge of high pressure for yesterday’s forecast? Well it’s still passed out on your couch and isn’t showing any signs of heading out the door any time soon. Mr. Ridge will keep us with dry weather and a continued warming trend into next week, boo. Low temperatures in the valleys were near or below 0 last night while low temps at 11,000ft were about 25 degrees. We’ll continue to see these strong inversions during this period.

Date: 02/09/2016

The ridge of high pressure over the western US is all we’re going to be talking about over the next few days. This ridge will keep us in dry weather with a gradual warming trend. Low temps last night were only about 20 degrees at 11,000ft, while valley lows are near 0. We’ll continue to see these inversions through the week but each day’s high temps will be a few degrees warmer than the last.

Date: 02/08/2016

The high pressure ridge over the West Coast will continue to dominate our weather through the work week. As the ridge slowly shifts east this week, we can expect a gradual warming trend in the mountains over valley inversions, and wind speeds easing. There is a weak disturbance in the forecast for next weekend, but it won’t be enough to feed our powder appetites that will surely be growing all week.

Date: 02/07/2016

We are on the east end of a strong high pressure ridge parked over the West Coast. We will continue to see moderate winds at higher elevations until this feature broadens and shifts east later in the week. Strong temperature inversions will continue to develop, with a gradual warming trend through the week in the mountains. Dry and mostly clear skies will persist through all of next week.

Date: 02/06/2016

A strong ridge is continuing to build over the western US and will bring us dry weather and a warming trend starting next week. Before we can make the transition to this dry weather pattern we’ll see one more blip in the flow roll in tonight. We will be on the southern edge of a very weak shortwave trough tonight that could bring some increasing clouds and gusty winds. Northern Colorado will see strong winds in the 50’s, but we should be just outside of these stronger winds. Still our mountains will see some stronger gusts and wind speeds in the 15-25mph range at 11,000ft.