YOUR AD HERE »

Snowy pattern to rock Aspen and Snowmass on Thursday and Friday

Andre Salvail
The Aspen Times

Powder junkies might soon be rejoicing in the streets and on the slopes.

Starting Wednesday afternoon and lasting through Friday, the Aspen-Snowmass area should receive intermittent bouts of snow that could bring up to two feet of the fresh stuff to the ski areas by early Saturday, according to forecasters for both the National Weather Service and http://www.aspenweather.net. The 48-hour-plus storm pattern is expected to put Monday night’s two inches to shame.

Light snow started hitting the streets of downtown Aspen about 4 p.m. Wednesday, moving in a flow from the northwest. The snow is predicted to get heavier overnight, resulting in two to four inches in the city of Aspen and three to six inches at the ski areas by early Thursday morning.



And then the fun is really supposed to begin.

Travis Booth, a National Weather Service forecaster in Grand Junction, predicts that 12 to 14 inches of snow will fall on Aspen’s streets on Thursday and Friday, with the system weakening Friday evening.



“It could be heavy at times,” he said. “For the mountains around you, we’re going with 10 to 20 inches with some isolated totals to 30 inches. That’s how it looks at the moment.”

Light snow showers might follow the Thursday-to-Friday system into the weekend and early next week, but nothing significant, Booth said Wednesday afternoon.

Cory Gates at aspenweather.net is calling for much the same: 17 to 25 inches at the ski areas before dawn on Saturday.

“This is a nice dumping and if it comes true, y’all will have lots of ‘fresh’ to play in,” he reported on the website, adding that his confidence level was high.

Little snow will be produced Wednesday evening, according to Gates. He expects the heavier snowfall to start in the wee hours of Thursday morning.

The daytime hours on Thursday have “a ton of potential,” he said. “Moral of the story, a snowy day at the resorts with a wetter snow in the valleys. The snow probably begins to diminish later at night.”

The daytime and early evening hours on Thursday should bring 9 to 13 inches to the ski areas and six to nine inches in town, Gates said.

Both forecasters predict more of the same on Friday.

Booth said the daytime hours on Thursday and Friday won’t be terribly cold. He calls for highs in the mid-20s or low-30s in Aspen. Saturday morning will be cold, with a predicted low of about 10 degrees, which is normal for the time of year, he said.

asalvail@aspentimes.com


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Glenwood Springs and Garfield County make the Post Independent’s work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.