Wolf Creek ski area opened for the season this past weekend, the first resort in Colorado to do so. Of course, no one from the Front Range drives all the way down there to ski do they? Well, if you haven’t heard, two of the closer I-70 resorts are opening up this Friday, Loveland and A-Basin. We discuss the weather forecast and snow outlook for opening weekend.

As we close out the work-week, a blocking ridge of high pressure will be developing across the western United States, with a deep trough headed for the Great Lakes. The core of the ridge will be over the Pacific Northwest, with a tilted ridge axis connecting across Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico. This general pattern will make for an absolutely gorgeous fall weekend in Colorado. We’re talking light winds, warmer temperatures, and sunshine.

GFS 500mb height anomaly forecast for Saturday showing a tilted ridge developing across the West

TEMPERATURES: Weak north-northwest flow will be establishing itself across Colorado. As a result, while temperatures will indeed be warmer, they won’t be THAT warm. Look for highs in the 60’s to lower 70’s around Denver, with 30’s to lower 40’s up in ski country.

WINDS: For the middle of October, we can’t complain 5-15 mph winds in the Mountains. It really doesn’t get any better!

SKY COVER: Skies will be mostly sunny Friday and Saturday, but some clouds are expected across the Mountains on Sunday afternoon as moisture increases aloft ahead of the next weather system.

SNOW: It will be cold enough for the resorts to turn the snow-makers on during the night, but the potential for natural snow is very low heading into the weekend. The GFS and NAM models both agree on just spotty light snow in the Mountains through Saturday, and most of this comes Wednesday night and early Thursday.

Model snowfall forecast through Saturday from the GFS (left) and NAM (right)

The snowfall probabilities through Sunday look bleak as well. We warned you that Mother Nature was taking a break this week…

Here’s the PowderCAST forecast for A-Basin and Loveland this weekend. A slight chance of snow shows up in the long-range forecast early next week, but the weekend itself will be sunny, boring, and mild overall.

Be sure to check PowderCAST as more resorts open through the winter and enjoy the lack-luster early season ski conditions if you do head out this weekend!

Share this post:

.

Andy

Born and raised in St. Louis, Andrew obtained a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from the University of Colorado in 2015. From 2015 to 2020, he worked remotely in Boulder as an atmospheric scientist with NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory in Miami. Andy is now a full-time meteorologist.

More Posts