Colorado to see more snow this weekend as ski areas continue to open

Fresh powder is likely to collide with several Colorado ski areas’ opening days this weekend. 

Most resorts along the Interstate 70 corridor could see around half-a-foot of snow by Saturday, according to forecasts from OpenSnow.com. Breckenridge Ski Resort, Copper Mountain Resort, and Winter Park Resort are slated to open on Friday while Loveland Ski Area will open on Saturday. 

Central mountain areas already received between 4 and 6 inches of snowfall earlier this week on top of the 4-20 inches that fell on Sunday, Nov. 3, according to OpenSnow meteorologist Sam Collentine. 

Most of the snowfall this weekend, however, is set to favor the eastern plains, Collentine wrote in a Nov. 6 blog post. 

“It will still provide us with great snowmaking conditions so that’s the upside to missing most of the natural snowfall,” he added. 

The Colorado Department of Transportation is also warning of travel impacts due to winter conditions and ski areas’ opening days. 

Drivers are urged to avoid traveling east of Interstate 25 and from south of Interstate 76 to the New Mexico and Kansas state lines. With lifts spinning at all four ski areas in Summit County by Friday, motorists on I-70 should prepare for slower travel times, especially given the extreme road conditions expected on the Front Range, the agency stated. 

“The storm may look like it is leaving later this afternoon, but the next round is expected to be worse than what we have already seen,” said CDOT Director of Maintenance and Operations John Lorme, in a statement. “Drivers should be prepared for long-term closures and should avoid driving in the most impacted areas of the state for the duration of the storm.”

For weather alerts, visit weather.gov. For traffic alerts and road conditions, visit cotrip.org.