Stormy Monday

Summary

Periods of moderate to heavy snow through Tuesday. Snow-packed road surfaces, reduced travel speeds, and occasional road closures can be expected through Tuesday evening. Lingering showers on Wednesday and Thursday. Storminess ramps up again next weekend and remains in place through December 10th.

Quick word from Molly’s Spirits:

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Short Term Forecast

It’s a beautiful sight along the I-70 mountain corridor on Monday morning as all resorts are reporting fresh snow. Loveland leads the pack with 10 inches over the past 24 hours, followed by Breckenridge with 9 inches, and Winter Park with 8 inches.

I-70 Snow Report: http://opsw.co/I70report

All road surfaces from the Eisenhower Tunnel through Vail remain under an icy and snow-packed mix. Here’s a look at Berthoud Pass, Loveland Pass, and Vail Pass on Monday morning.

The road surfaces should improve throughout the morning hours before our next round of moderate to heavy snow moves in by Monday afternoon. CDOT has been implementing the passenger traction law so make sure your vehicle has snow/mud tires, all-wheel/4WD, or an alternative traction device if you’re are traveling along the I-70 mountain corridor.

Come midday Monday, the snow machine will begin to ramp back up along the mountain corridor. Cool, westerly flow will accompany the second part of this storm, which will bring us periods of moderate to heavy snow. All road surfaces from Vail through the Eisenhower Tunnel will be slick and snow-packed so please take it slow if you have to travel along the corridor through Monday night. In total, we are looking at an additional 3-6 inches by Tuesday morning.

We will then see our main wind direction shift and blow from the northwest on Tuesday. This will keep periods of light to moderate snow, along with slower travel speeds, in the forecast through Tuesday evening.

For reference, here’s a look at the latest snow forecast, according to the CAIC WRF model, through midnight on Tuesday night.

Overall, the I-70 mountain corridor should be looking at an additional 4-8 inches over the next 36 hours. Keep an eye on Vail on Tuesday as they could see sneaky good totals by Tuesday evening.

Come Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, the mountain corridor will experience mixed periods of sun, clouds, and light showers. This will be due to our current storm lingering on Wednesday, followed by another storm that will dive to our southwest on Thursday and Friday. All road surfaces will become mostly clear but slower travel speeds could be encountered over the mountain passes due to slick conditions.

Extended Forecast

Beginning next weekend, December 3rd and 4th, we will begin to see our next period of storminess move into Colorado. Cool temperatures and pulses of energy will likely keep the chance for snow in the forecast through the following weekend or around December 10th.

This will keep slower travel speeds in place along the mountain corridor but an improving chance for more terrain to open at the resorts. The exact details are still up in the air so stay tuned for more details later this week.

Thanks for reading and have a great Monday!

SAM COLLENTINE

Announcements

Contest – Prepare for the upcoming season with the Gear Up For Winter Sweepstakes presented by Liftopia! Prizes include new DPS skis, limited edition SPY goggles, Yakima cargo box, and $1,500 worth of gift cards from Liftopia, EVO, and The Feed. Enter to win → http://opsw.co/2gdRiuy

Make sure your vehicle is prepared for winter driving conditions. I highly recommend winter tires if you’re driving along the mountain corridor from now through May. This is not only for your own safety and peace of mind, but for the safety of others. Find all CDOT passenger vehicle traction and chain laws here → http://opsw.co/2fdJDM1

I am now writing a daily forecast for Breckenridge. The “Breckenridge Daily Snow” (https://opensnow.com/dailysnow/breckenridge) will be available as a free preview through early December. It will then only be viewable to All-Access users ($19/year, more info here: https://opensnow.com/user/register). In the meantime, enjoy reading the Breckenridge Daily Snow each day for free, and when we do move it to be a feature of the All-Access Pass, we hope you’ll subscribe to support OpenSnow!

Did you know that you can get more from OpenSnow?

If you’re looking for a way to support OpenSnow and get access to more data, consider signing up for the All-Access Pass.

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All of this costs just $19 for one full year (365 days) and helps to support OpenSnow so that we can spend money and time to further improve our website and mobile apps.

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