This week’s perfectly timed impulse of snow, driven by an atmospheric river of moisture from the Pacific Ocean, has been cause for true thanksgiving among skiers, riders and resort operators.
Since the storm arrived early this week, Crested Butte led the way in the central mountains with 31 inches as of Wednesday morning, according to the OpenSnow reporting and forecasting service. Aspen areas received 25 to 27 inches and Monarch picked up 22.
“I was out in the central mountains on Tuesday and was surprised at the light and fluffy snow quality,” OpenSnow founding meteorologist Joel Gratz wrote in his Wednesday update. “Temperatures were slightly rising during the day, so I expected more dense snow quality, but that wasn’t the case. On Tuesday night, temperatures rose, then cooled between midnight and sunrise on Wednesday morning.”
In the northern mountains, Copper Mountain picked up 22, while Vail, Ski Cooper and Winter Park received 20. Breckenridge, Steamboat, Loveland, Arapahoe Basin, Keystone and Eldora all received more than a foot.
Beaver Creek, Crested Butte and Granby opened Wednesday. Telluride opened Thursday with 15 inches of freshies.
All that snow made travel difficult, but things should improve. Gratz said there is little chance of significant snowfall in the near term.
“Following this storm, we’ll likely see 10-15 days of mostly or completely dry weather,” Gratz wrote. “Despite the dry forecast, there are a few bright spots: Temperatures will stay cool with highs around 30 degrees. The sun angle is low. This will help to preserve our snowpack.
“The snowpack will be deeper than average, heading into this dry period, so plenty of terrain should open soon and we’ll be able to withstand the dry weather. Most of the very long-range forecast models show the upcoming dry weather pattern changing around mid-December.”
