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Aspen winter storm warning in effect through Monday

Staff report
The sun peaks through storm clouds Friday morning as skiers ride down Copper Bowl on Aspen Mountain. The forecast calls for snow every day for the next week in Aspen (see weather story on page xx).
Corby Anderson/The Aspen Times |

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for Aspen for late this morning through Monday evening. Snow is expected to be heaviest tonight into Sunday.

Snow accumulation is expected to reach 1 to 2 feet through Monday, with the highest amounts on southwest-facing slopes.

The southern part of Colorado is expected to get the highest amounts of snow in the state, with some forecasts calling for up to 4 feet.



Southwest winds around the Aspen area could reach 25 miles per hour, with higher gusts today and tonight.

“The next few days will certainly add an additional stress to a weak underlying snowpack,” according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center forecast for the Aspen zone. “Danger will rise as we move into the incoming storm cycle — rising as the snowpack increases in depth. The forecast snow amounts will add a daily incremental load and make avalanches easier and easier to trigger. The danger will rise rapidly if the snow depths are increasing rapidly, as could be the case this weekend. Update your terrain and snowpack evaluations frequently if it is snowing or drifting.”




Open Snow, a powder forecasting service, predicts 2 to 4 feet of snow in the southern mountains — Wolf Creek, Durango, Telluride and Silverton. There could be 1 to 2 feet in the Central Mountains, which include Aspen, and lesser amounts in the Northern Mountains along I-70 and north.

“Also, temperatures will be rather warm over the weekend with the moist winds blowing from the southwest, so expect higher-density snow. Likely not blower powder,” Meteorologist Joel Gratz’s forecast reads.