The current forecast is on track with a slight bump in confidence for higher totals in Utah than the original 9-12 inches I posted this morning. As of 9:45 PM MST snow was falling in most of the Utah mountains including Park City and lower elevation resorts. Thundersnow was occurring around 8 PM tonight in some of the mountain ranges. There is nothing cooler than the snow filled sky to light up! I saw it in Park City amidst dumping skies (Pretty euphoric).
Looking at snow data, the northern Wasatch is winning the game this evening with 6-7 inches at Snowbasin (Webcam) and around 6 inches at Powder Mountain (Telemetry). It's possible the webcam at Snowbasin is higher than the telemetry at mid-mountain which showed less. Park City (Canyons is favored) had 2-3 inches and snowing moderately. The entire range of the Wasatch should easily pick up 9-12 inches by 9 AM Friday. Some areas favored by NW flow (Little Cottonwood) will likely see 12-16 inches by noon Friday. Most resorts you choose Friday morning should offer relatively deep conditions. SW winds initially may be favoring Snowbasin explaining the high totals this evening. Caveat: Temps dropped very fast this evening (10-degree drop in just a few hours) so areas above freezing today (Several were in the 40s) will have a pretty deep freeze below the relatively dry density snow that is currently falling (Starts out medium to heavy and will go blower by morning). Not sure it's dense enough to cushion (Will find out on Friday).
Below: Snowbasin webcam as of 10 PM Thursday.
In Colorado, the northern mountains will be favored Friday late AM (Steamboat and perhaps I-70 by late morning or early afternoon. Models only coming in with light to moderate amounts that will continue into Friday night. The winds initially favor western regions of I-70 and north (Aspen, Steamboat, Beaver Creek). Winds veer more northerly late Friday night favoring the Front Range, Summit and Grand County. Boulder County may also score some pow near Eldora. There may be wide areas of 2-6 inches for your 1st turns on Saturday. The winds may turn back to the NW into Sunday (Low moisture on the models) bringing colder air and orographics that cold land additional light or moderate snow for Colorado Sunday morning (Wildcard). Sunday PM to Monday may see an increase of snowfall for the southern mountains of Colorado and most of northern New Mexico. Some models bring decent amounts to Taos and even Wolf Creek for Monday. Others are less. We will have to wait and see what the models bring us as we get closer.
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Enjoy the powder everyone!
Powderchaser Steve
Powderchaser Steve
