Weather
Colorado’s spring keeps the powder skis handy this week. A quick mid-week refresher drops light, high-quality snow tonight into Thursday, a brief lull follows, and then a slow-moving low spins up from Sunday through late next week, driving the deepest totals and the best chance for several sleeper powder mornings—especially across the Front Range giants.
Wednesday night-Thursday wave delivers a clean late-season reset. Showers blossom this afternoon, turning to all-snow above 10,000 feet before midnight as a modest cold front nudges freezing levels toward 8,000 feet by dawn. Ratios hover 10-12:1, so the 1″-3″ that falls on the highest Front Range and central peaks will ski surprisingly fluffy. Southern summits pick up a dusting to 2″ with similar quality. Winds stay mostly light outside a few isolated convective gusts.
Thursday afternoon through Saturday brings a feeble warming interlude. Freezing levels rebound to 9,000-10,000 feet each afternoon, and instability keeps scattered graupel-style showers roaming the high country. Most resorts tack on only a trace to 2″, and lower ratios of 6-9:1 point to denser, springlike snow. Valley highs flirt with 60°F by Saturday while ridgelines stay in the 30s.
Sunday-Tuesday marks the heart of the week as a sluggish cutoff low stalls over the Four Corners. Moist easterly flow, colder mid-level temperatures, and broad ascent combine for periodic bursts of snowfall, heaviest Sunday night and again late Monday night into Tuesday. Snow levels bounce between 8,500 and 9,500 feet, dipping briefly lower under heavier showers. Ratios trend 9-12:1—good news for powder texture without the blower sting—and totals climb sharply: Loveland/A-Basin stack up 6″-10″, Winter Park 5″-8″, while southern magnets Wolf Creek and Monarch tally 4″-8″ thanks to slightly warmer profiles but steady orographic enhancement. Gusty southwest winds on Sunday, veering easterly Monday, may rattle upper lifts but also wring out extra snow along the Continental Divide.
Wednesday-Friday should keep the trough entrenched and the conveyor belt alive. Shortwave ripples ride the main circulation, delivering another 2″-6″ to the northern and central peaks—highest on favored north-through-east aspects—while the San Juans squeeze out lighter refreshes. Ratios slip a notch to 8-10:1 under gradually warming temps, yet overnight cooling will keep the upper mountain turns chalky. Winds ease mid-week before a renewed uptick on Friday as the next impulse approaches.
The medium range favors more late-season shots. The 6-10 and 8-14 day outlooks hold a stout western trough, implying below-normal temperatures and above-normal precipitation across Colorado. Expect additional waves to roll through next weekend and beyond, extending the window for surprise May powder days above 9,000 feet.
Resort Forecast Totals
- Loveland/Arapahoe Basin – 11″-22″ total (2″-3″ Wed night (04/30) – Thu night (05/01) + 9″-19″ Sun night (05/04) – Fri night (05/09))
- Winter Park – 9″-17″ total (2″-3″ Wed night (04/30) – Thu night (05/01) + 7″-14″ Sun night (05/04) – Fri (05/09))
- Wolf Creek – 7″-14″ total (1″-2″ Fri night (05/02) – Sat (05/03) + 6″-12″ Sat (05/03) – Thu night (05/08))
- Monarch – 5″-11″ Sun night (05/04) – Fri night (05/09)
- Telluride – 6″-11″ total (1″-2″ Wed night (04/30) – Thu night (05/01) + 5″-9″ Sun (05/04) – Wed (05/07))
- Copper Mountain/Breckenridge – 4″-10″ total (1″-2″ Wed night (04/30) – Thu night (05/01) + 2″-5″ Sun night (05/04) – Wed (05/07) + 1″-3″ Wed night (05/07) – Fri (05/09))
- Crested Butte – 3″-6″ Sun night (05/04) – Wed (05/07)
- Snowmass – 2″-5″ total (1″-2″ Wed night (04/30) – Thu night (05/01) + 1″-3″ Sun night (05/04) – Tue night (05/06))
- Vail/Beaver Creek – 1″-2″ Wed night (04/30) – Thu night (05/01)
