Weather
The SnowBrains snow forecast sees an ongoing spring storm that keeps snow over Colorado’s mountains through Wednesday, then the pattern turns warmer and mostly dry. All Colorado resorts are closed, so this is a high-country coverage and snowpack update rather than a lift-served powder forecast. Confidence is strongest from 2 a.m. Wednesday, May 6 through midnight Wednesday night, with many mountain areas adding 3-8 inches and the lowest totals around Steamboat. Snow will be wet to moderate south and west, a little lighter along the colder Front Range, before showers taper and warmer May weather takes over.
The storm is already in progress, with the most organized snow continuing Wednesday morning and then tapering north to south through the afternoon and evening. The models converge well on timing and a broad statewide hit, though they diverge on intensity in the southern and central mountains, where a wetter solution is inflating the high end around Monarch and Wolf Creek. Snow levels should generally run from 4,500-8,500 feet, locally near 9,000 feet in the south, with SLRs mostly 12-18 along the colder Front Range and 9-14 farther west and south. Expect moderate to fairly light snow quality north and denser spring snow south and west, with exposed gusts mostly 15-30 mph and locally near 35 mph.
Thursday and Friday turn quieter, but a weak disturbance can still brush the northern mountains Thursday night into Friday. Model agreement drops after Wednesday because most guidance keeps this to flurries or less than 1 inch, while one solution tries to produce 1-3 inches near the Front Range. Snow levels rise toward 9,000-11,000 feet, so any snow would be dense and elevation dependent, with rain or mixed showers lower down. Winds may be more noticeable on exposed ridges, with gusts around 25-35 mph at times, but there is no strong follow-up storm signal.
Saturday through early next week looks warmer and mostly dry, with only isolated high-country showers. The models are fairly aligned on the warmup and lack of organized snowfall through Tuesday, while the broader late-week pattern becomes less certain. Mountain temperatures climb from the 30s and 40s into more 40s and 50s for many mountain elevations, which will settle the new snow quickly on sun-exposed aspects. The 6-10 day outlook favors above-normal temperatures and near-normal precipitation for Colorado, then the 8-14 day period leans warmer and wetter, but the ski-specific snow signal through late next week remains weak and speculative.
Colorado Snow Forecast Resort Totals (Wed May 06 – Wed May 06)
- Monarch – 6-8 inches
- Wolf Creek – 6-7 inches
- Arapahoe Basin – 5-6 inches
- Loveland – 5-6 inches
- Breckenridge – 5-6 inches
- Winter Park – 4-5 inches
- Copper Mountain – 4-5 inches
- Snowmass – 4-5 inches
- Telluride – 4-5 inches
- Beaver Creek – 3-4 inches
- Vail – 3-4 inches
- Crested Butte – 3 inches
- Steamboat – 1-2 inches
