Snowfall map for the Fri night through Sun afternoon storm system

01/10/25 8:15am: Happy Friday! I made a snowfall map for you for the approaching storm system expected to bring snow to parts of the state from late tonight through Sun afternoon (mostly moderate / heavy snow for parts of the mountains with a little bit for the front-range). I'll let the map mostly speak for itself and I also included the latest snowfall forecasts from the models below. Here are some main points:

• After a chilly start this morning we will have a nice Friday across the state with sunny skies and light wind in most areas

• Some stronger wind over the Front Range mountains (along/east of the Cont. Divide) this afternoon with wind-gusts of 30-50mph in spots

• Snow showers move into northwest CO after 11pm tonight

• The main snow event for the north-central mountains (including Routt, Pitkin, Eagle, Summit, Grand, ClearCreek, western Boulder/Larimer counties) will be from 2am Sat through 2pm Sun (with heaviest snow Sat afternoon / evening).

• Generally 5-12" for the local ski areas with highest amounts locally west of Vail Pass and secondarily closer to Cameron Pass

• Highest snowfall amounts overall will be in the Park range north of Steamboat ski and Flat Tops (10-16" in those areas by Sun afternoon)

• Ski areas near Aspen, CB, and towards the western San Juans (Telluride, Silverton) can also expect 4-12" in spots, refer to map

• For Den/Bou and the front-range a more tricky forecast as some models do show a shot of snow Sat night but it will all depend on how far south the main short-wave will track (if it tracks further south Denver and the foothills may get some snow, if it stays north, likely not much due to the strong northwest downslope flow)

• Generally for Den/Bou and the front-range a chance for snow-showers between 3pm Sat to 3am Sun. Best chances will be from the Palmer Divide south and also towards Springs, Pueblo and towards Trinidad and points west

• For Den/Bou maybe a Trace-1" in a few spots, best chances from Denver south. Palmer Divide and foothills south and west of Den: maybe T-2" in spots. Best chances from Pueblo to Trinidad and the foothills west of there: 1-6" in spots down there early Sun am.

• Overall the wind doesn't look too strong with the Sat storm, some stronger wind over parts of the north-central mountains during the day Sat, strongest over the Front Range mountains: wind-gusts of 30-50mph in spots, less wind further west

• Snow showers linger in the mountains through Sun evening before clearing out

• It will be cold but mostly dry Mon/Tue of next week

I'm heading to New Orleans on Sunday for the annual AMS conference so Thomas will be taking over the weather forecasting at that point. I'll be out for 1 week.

First image is my total snowfall map through 2pm Sun. Images 2-4 compare forecast total snowfall from now through 5pm Sun from latest HRRR, ECMWF and GFS...take modeled snow amounts with grain of salt (you can see they can't agree on what will happen on the front-range).