Colorado is an arid state and every drop of rain and flake of snow should be treated as gold! Most mountains will get 1-2 inches of liquid-equivalent precipitation and the areas east of the mountains could get 2-5 inches. This storm is fantastic not just because of powder but because of the water it is bringing to Colorado. For the rest of the state, most mountains should measure 10-20 inches, but as we saw with Copper, amounts could be 1.5x to 2.0x higher if heavier bands luckily track over a certain mountain. The powder should be amazing but you’ll have a tough time getting there if you aren’t already in Summit County. My previous forecast was conservative and this storm is over-performing due to its slow movement and abundant moisture. At Abasin, like I mentioned, storm totals could be 20-30 inches. Amounts in this area could be 30-50 inches by the end of the storm. The deepest totals will likely be near and east of the divide from about I-70 north to Wyoming. Because of the abundant moisture in the air, and because this storm will move slowly and will bring snow for at least another 24-36 hours (through Friday evening), snowfall totals could be VERY deep. Most SNOTEL stations (automated backcountry weather stations) show about 8-12 inches (+/-) for many mountains. Many mountains have shut off their webcams, so it’s hard for me to see how much snow has fallen elsewhere. I-70 is shut down in both directions for much of the stretch between Vail and Denver due to the heavy snow and multiple crashes. Here is the Copper snow stake camera at 8am on Thursday. Computer models can’t reliably predict the exact location of these heavier bands (at least now in 2017, this could change in the coming years), and it’s all about luck. This is due to a band of heavy snow that happens to be persistently tracking over the mountain. The deepest snow I have seen so far is at Copper where their snow stake shows 20+ inches between Wednesday evening and Thursday at 8am. Since they already received this much, and the snow will continue through Friday, they could easily reach the 20-30+ inch range for a storm total. My previous forecast for Abasin was 10-15 inches storm total. Abasin is the only mountain spinning lifts, and they reported 9 inches on Wednesday night and another 3 inches has fallen on Thursday morning between 5am and 8am. Most mountains across Colorado have measured 8-12 inches between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning. Since moisture is the fuel for snow, this sets the stage for big-time snow amounts. The storm is bringing in LOTS of moisture. The storm is here and will last through Friday. They also gave me the discount code of “Joel” that you can use for 15%. I’ll be at the “Hike & Hops” event and likely a few others. Also, completely not snow related, I was invited to participate at the Vail Craft Beer Classic from June 16-18th. Have fun in the snow and be mindful of the avalanche risk as 20-40 inches of new snow in 36 hours is a lot of weight. It is still snowing along the divide from about I-70 north to Wyoming. SNOTEL stations in Rocky Mountain also show accumulation around 30-36 inches with 2-3 inches of liquid water equivalent. The highest reports ( ) have been 30-38 inches in the foothills west of Boulder. Abasin reported 9 inches on Thursday morning and another 12 inches on Friday morning for a total of 21 inches.
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