Colorado’s peaks could see snow this weekend

Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Colorado’s highest-elevation areas could be covered in several inches of snow before the end of the week, according to a forecast from OpenSnow.com.
In a Monday, Oct. 14 blog post, founding meteorologist Joel Gratz wrote that warmer weather earlier in the week could subside by Friday with the arrival of a storm. Gratz noted that the storm’s track is still uncertain and that specific snow forecasts are not yet reliable.
The latest forecasts have shifted the track of the storm,” Gratz wrote. “Previously, it appeared that the storm would track from west to east across Colorado. Now, it appears that the storm will cut off from the main west-to-east flow of weather and potentially stall near the four corners (near or just to the southwest of Colorado).”
With the storm possibly tracking south, there will be a higher chance for more snow over the southern mountains, with temperatures cold enough for snow to accumulate on some peaks, Gratz wrote.
Prediction models for the northern mountains give a 29% chance of seeing up to 6 inches of snow in the Berthoud Pass area, Gratz added. By comparison, there is a 59% chance for that amount of snow in the area of Wolf Creek Pass — roughly double the probability.
“While it is exciting to talk about snow, remember that these southern storms can wobble, and this means that the forecast data may not hone in on the correct track and snowfall amounts until later this week when the storm is just one or two days away,” Gratz wrote. “So we’ll continue to watch the updates and hope for moisture.”
Looking toward the final stretch of October, Gratz says there is a “decently high chance for additional storms.”
“We may see some showers and cool air linger from October 20-22 (depending on the track of the storm from October 18-20), and then the signal is for another storm to arrive sometime around the weekend of October 26-27,” Gratz wrote.
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