Watching this storm evolve is a forecasters dream, however, frustration in where the heaviest snow will fall today is in full force. As forecasted more by luck, Powderhorn scored some of the deepest snow in 24 hours on the I-70 corridor (12 inches). Moisture per the radar is heavy from Grand Junction to Rifle. That might push east as the day progresses. Wolf Creek is reporting 65 inches in the past 3 days! Telluride scored 8 overnight while Aspen is not far behind. Heavy snow will continue in the San Juans today with Telluride a solid bet with winds shifting to the NW. A significant blizzard with strong winds and FEET of snow will pound the eastern flanks of Colorado. The highest impact appears to be south of Denver and further east. The Front range areas will start to see rain change to snow by late AM today.
Most resorts further east on I-70 picked up 3-5 inches. The winds have shifted to the NW which should help most of the mountains, especially early Wednesday morning. It's hard to forecast who sees the highest amounts with models pushing a general 4-9 inches of snow today for most of the I-70 corridor. Winds veer to the north this afternoon, temps drop, quality improves! Looking at CAIC weather stations the temps have already started to drop this morning with quality improving throughout the day. As winds veer more Northerly snow may be heaviest near the Continental Divide later today or tonight. Snow showers continue into Thursday morning. My gut tells me that you could storm ski resorts west of the Divide today and stick closer to the Front Range for Thursday. Currently at 7:15 AM it appears that Keystone is winning the game with another 3 inches since 5 AM on the webcam. Other good spots today will be Monarch, Powderhorn (Additional snow), Aspen (7 in 24), and Telluride (Still snowing).
In Arizona, the Snowbowl picked up 11 inches (High quality) in 24 hours with strong winds. Additional light snow is likely today. In Utah, the Wasatch is scoring with very cold air (The same cold front that will move into Colorado later today). 6-9 inches fell overnight in the Cottonwoods with 3-6 elsewhere. The models show another healthy dose of 4-9 inches today with showers continuing Wednesday night. Temps were very warm yesterday in Utah with a sharp drop last night (Might be blower this morning with a hard surface below). Conditions will continue to improve with storm totals in the 14-17 inch range for the Cottonwoods and 6-11 inch range elsewhere in northern Utah.
While confidence is not great for who gets the most snow in Colorado, I tend to favor the resorts closest to the Divide this morning. Vail is also getting decent snow out west with models still showing another 4-7 inches today. Reports from the field are telling me it's snowing pretty heavily in Summit currently.
Enjoy the powder everyone
Powderchaser Steve
