Colorado’s high country is about to receive a big blast of snow over the next two days, with some northern locations possibly seeing between 24-36 inches of snow by Sunday morning.

Travel impacts on the state’s northern highways could be difficult both Saturday and Sunday. A winter storm warning is in effect for most of the northern and west-central mountains from 5 p.m., Friday to 11 p.m., Saturday.

Lighter snow is forecast heading into the middle of December, then a lull in wintry action is forecast for several days during mid-month.

Recap:

Powder snow was skied and ridden Wednesday (storm day) and Thursday (fresh snow) around the state, with between 2-11 inches recorded across the from a mid-week storm. The Front Range and southern mountains saw the most snow.

Snow showers began to develop overnight Friday in the northwestern mountains near Steamboat as a larger system, along with lots of wind, pushed eastward into Colorado.

Forecast:

Moisture being piped into the northern Rockies off the Pacific Ocean will continue spreading snow inland into northern Colorado, especially the Park Range around Steamboat, on Friday morning first before giving the west-central mountains an ample dose later in the afternoon/evening as the storm works its way eastward.

Snow is forecast to fall in the southern mountains too, but not to the extent in the northern and central mountains as the storm track stays hugged along the Wyoming/Colorado border.

Saturday and Sunday will both be powder skiing days, with possible accumulations for Saturday’s first chairs in the northern mountains to be between 8-18 inches with the highest totals around Steamboat, in the central mountains between 1-4 inches and in the southern mountains between a trace-1 inch.

Snow continues on Saturday, heavy at times, as another wave of showers enters the state late morning. Traveling into the northern mountains along Interstate 40, US Highway 40 and Colorado State Highway 9 to access ski areas could be tough both Saturday and Sunday.

Both the GFS and ECMWF models forecast the northern mountains to receive 24+ inches of snow by Sunday morning, however the GFS model has more snow spreading into the central and southern mountains for Sunday’s first chairs.

The NWS Blend of Models forecasts even more snow around Steamboat, with 36+ inches possible by Sunday morning. The NWS Blend model also forecasts the Flattops, Gore and Front Range mountains to potentially see 24-30 inches of snow as well.

ECMWF:

GFS:

NWS Blend of Models:

Snow ends Sunday afternoon.

Monday’s forecast calls for light snow showers in the northern mountains again, but totals should only be between 1-2 inches.

Tuesday is forecast to be calm and sunny ahead of another round of snow starts Wednesday.

Snow is forecast to develop Wednesday morning and last into overnight Thursday, with most showers confined to the northern mountains.

Long-term forecast:

After Wednesday’s potential storm, Colorado’s high country looks to be somewhat quiet from Thursday through Tuesday, Dec. 16, when a new storm could brush northern Colorado with more snow starting Wednesday, Dec. 17.

More details regarding these storms, including timing, duration and snowfall amounts will become more clear as more model runs render over the next 10 days.

Colorado ski resorts’ planned opening dates and 24-hour totals:

Arapahoe Basin – 1″

Aspen Highlands – Dec. 13

Aspen Mountain – 0″

Beaver Creek – 0″

Breckenridge – 1″

Buttermilk – Dec. 13

Cooper – Dec. 10

Copper Mountain – 3″

Crested Butte – 0″

Echo Mountain – Dec. 12

Eldora Mountain – 0″

Granby Ranch – 0″

Hesperus – Closed for the season

Howelsen Hill – Dec. 6

Kendall Mountain – December

Keystone – 0″

Loveland – 1″

Monarch – 1″

Powderhorn – Delayed, ASAP

Purgatory – 0″

Silverton – Private mountain after Dec. 1, Guided and Heli season Dec. 27

Snowmass – 0″

Steamboat – 2″

Sunlight – Dec. 12

Telluride – Dec. 6

Vail – 2″

Winter Park – 2″

Wolf Creek – 0″