Weather
This forecast was created at 8:15 a.m. on Sunday, February 15, 2026.
A long, windy storm cycle brings Colorado’s best powder setup of the next 10 days, with snow building from Monday night through Saturday morning. The steadiest stretch runs Tuesday through Thursday, followed by a smaller follow-up wave Friday through early Saturday. Snow levels stay low enough for all snow at every resort once precipitation gets going, and snow quality improves as colder air settles in midweek, with frequent SLRs in the mid-teens and higher. Winds appear to be the primary on-mountain impact, especially Tuesday and Wednesday, when exposed ridgelines become rough and blowing snow becomes a factor. After Saturday, the pattern trends quieter, and confidence drops quickly, with only a low-confidence late-window refresher appearing in some guidance.
Sunday and Monday stay mild and mostly dry, then snow returns to the high country late Monday night as winds ramp up fast. Models are converging on the Monday night-to-Tuesday transition, with light snow starting first in the southern mountains and spreading into the central and northern ranges by Tuesday morning. Snow levels during the snowy periods generally sit in the 2,000 to 6,000 feet range, so every resort stays on the snow side, including lower bases like Steamboat. Early Tuesday snow ratios are about 10-14:1 in many areas, so the first few inches can be denser, then quality improves as colder air moves in. Wind is a major part of the story right away, and the models line up on a very windy Tuesday, especially above treeline, with frequent exposed-ridge gusts reaching the 40-60 mph range.
Tuesday through Thursday is the core of the storm, and the models are converging well on the timing, the low snow levels, and a meaningful statewide accumulation. Where they diverge most is on intensity and which ranges get the most persistent bands, so confidence stays higher on the window than on exact resort-to-resort differences. From Tuesday into Thursday, most of the northern and central mountains can stack 8″-22″, while the southern mountains carry the clearest path to 12″-41″ thanks to sustained orographic lift. Snow quality improves as the storm matures, with SLRs commonly climbing into the 15-20:1 range by Wednesday and Thursday, so turns get lighter and more forgiving. Winds remain strong through much of this stretch, and while the models diverge on peak speeds, they agree on long periods of ridge-top wind that will favor sheltered terrain and keep some exposed lines scoured.
Snow continues in lighter, colder pulses Thursday night and Friday, and a smaller wave Friday into early Saturday adds a final reload before conditions trend quieter. Models are converging on continued light orographic snow through Friday, with a greater spread in the timing of lulls and the exact placement of the best final bands. That Friday-to-Saturday push looks smaller than the midweek core, with many resorts adding another 2″-7″ and the favored southern ranges closer to 4″-14″. At the same time, snow quality stays on the better side with SLRs generally in the teens. After Saturday, guidance diverges sharply, and confidence drops, with a quieter stretch favored and Colorado sitting closer to the drier edge of broader western U.S. troughing. A late-window refresher remains possible, but it currently appears to yield an upside of 2″-6″ in the solutions that produce it.
Resort Forecast Totals (Mon Feb 16 – Sat Feb 21)
- Wolf Creek – 35″-56″
- Crested Butte – 21″-34″
- Telluride – 18″-30″
- Steamboat – 16″-27″
- Monarch – 15″-23″
- Snowmass – 13″-22″
- Vail – 12″-20″
- Beaver Creek – 12″-19″
- Loveland – 11″-17″
- Copper Mountain – 10″-17″
- Arapahoe Basin – 10″-16″
- Winter Park – 9″-15″
- Breckenridge – 8″-13″
