Skiing - Blog

Still snowing in Colorado!

Joel Gratz — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 15:12:00 GMT

There are few times in life when you get a do-over, but this weekend will be one of them. With over three feet of snow falling since Saturday, Vail and Breckenridge have decided to re-open on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday April 19-21^st. It’s closing weekend, part two!

The only thing that could be better than a do-over is that more snow is on the way. Another storm will move into Colorado from the northwest and snow should fall from about sunrise Saturday morning through Saturday afternoon. About 4-8 inches could accumulate during this time, making for excellent riding conditions on Saturday morning.

If you’re heading out to the hill, remember that the high angle of the sun in April does affect the snow. Light, powdery snow might last through the storm, but once the sun comes out in full force, it’ll quickly turn heavier and wet. This is just a fact of life with spring skiing, so try to stay on north-facing slopes or hit the powder as soon as it falls. Skiing will still be fun this weekend, I just wanted to put this dose of realism into the mix because often our enthusiasm for snow gets the best of us and we forget that it’s much closer to May than it is to January.

Warmer and drier weather will return later next week, so it's great that we have the opportunity for another few days of snow before we leave winter behind us.

Enjoy the bonus weekend and thanks for reading my forecasts this season!

JOEL GRATZ

Meteorologist Joel Gratz is the founder and CEO of opensnow.com and is based in Boulder, Colo.

Closing day powder day?

Joel Gratz — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 03:02:00 GMT

This is the final weekend for all of the Tahoe and Colorado resorts. The weather in Tahoe will be tranquil and fitting of a normal closing day, but the weather in Colorado will feel more like winter than spring. With so many events going on this weekend, let’s take a look at the day-by-day forecast for Colorado.

After a nice snowfall on Thursday into Thursday evening, Friday will be a mostly dry day with just a few midday and afternoon snow showers. The weather for Friday night events should be dry and chilly. Enjoy!

Saturday will be a great day with warmer temperatures and a good amount of sun. This will be the warmer of the two weekend days, so take advantage!

On Saturday night, things get interesting. A storm just to the north of Colorado will slowly sink southward during the evening and overnight hours. This will push a cold front and ample moisture toward Breckenridge, Vail, and Beaver Creek. The computer forecast models are still a bit iffy about exactly how far south the cold and snow travel, but they are growing more confident that snow will overspread the area. A few miles north or south could make a big difference in snowfall, but right now the ingredients are in place for perhaps 6-12 inches of snow overnight, with the highest accumulations at the highest elevations and perhaps a wet snow and rain mix toward the bases.

If this forecast holds, Sunday morning might be a powder day. Wouldn’t that be something special for closing day? I’m not very confident in this forecast, but the odds are slowly building in favor of a powder day for Sunday morning. The snow will let up by Sunday midday, so the pond skim at Vail on Sunday afternoon will be chilly but likely free of heavy snow.

Have fun at closing weekend and stop back next week for a look back at the season!

JOEL GRATZ

Meteorologist Joel Gratz is the founder and CEO of opensnow.com and is based in Boulder, Colo.

Late season storms target Colorado

Joel Gratz — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 20:03:00 GMT

Even though we’re heading toward the closing day for many ski areas, winter is far from over. April is a transition month between winter and spring, which means that it is quite normal for some days to be warm and sunny and other days to be cold and snowy. Over the next week it looks like there will be plenty of additional cold and snowy days for Colorado.

Two weaker storms will affect the state this weekend. The first will move through quickly on Friday night and should drop a few inches. The next storm will move through on Saturday night and bring another few inches. These types of frequent smaller storms don’t make headlines but can keep the late-season conditions fresh and fun.

The potentially bigger news, however, is a powerful storm that will sit on top of Colorado from later Monday through early Wednesday. This will be a cut-off storm, meaning that it will be cut off from the main west-to-east flow of weather. This is why it will move so slowly.

Storms like this often bring southerly winds followed by easterly winds followed by winds from the northwest as the storm moves away. The I-70 resorts in Colorado (Keystone, Breckenridge, Vail, Beaver Creek) see the most snow with a northwesterly wind, so the best snow for these areas will like fall later in the storm, from Tuesday into Wednesday. It’s too early for any confidence in the forecast, but amounts could be around half a foot.

Other sections of Colorado, including eastern areas like the foothills near Denver, could see many feet of snow. And while you might be a bit jealous that this deeper snow isn’t falling on the resorts, take comfort in knowing that it will help to fill reservoirs for summertime and this is a worthwhile cause.

Enjoy the snow this weekend and keep an eye on the storm for early next week – it could be a good one!

JOEL GRATZ

Meteorologist Joel Gratz is the founder and CEO of opensnow.com and is based in Boulder, Colo.

Weekend storm for Tahoe

Joel Gratz — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 15:43:00 GMT

Last weekend was winter-like in Colorado with cold temperatures, fluffy powder, and nearly 100% of terrain open. For late March, it doesn’t get any better.

However this weekend attention will turn west toward the Tahoe basin where a slow-moving, cut-off storm will linger over the weekend and could bring as much as a foot and a half of snow.

A cut-off storm means that the storm is cut-off from the main west-to-east flow of weather. Think of this type of storm like an eddy in a stream … it breaks off from the main current and meanders about. Since the storm is meandering instead of being pushed along, it’s sometimes hard to predict the exact path until the last minute. But weather models have been consistent in calling for good snow at Tahoe, and consistency leads to a more confident forecast.

The snow should start later on Saturday and last through Sunday night into Monday morning. With springtime temperatures ahead of the storm, the rain-snow line will initially be very high at 8,000 feet, which is toward the top of most mountains. However temperatures will cool through the storm and the snow level should drop to near 7,000 feet by Sunday and all the way to lake level by Sunday night into Monday.

Kirkwood will likely see the most snow will accumulations possibly reaching a foot and a half. At Heavenly and Northstar, accumulations will be lower but still fun with about 5-10 inches.

Thankfully this won’t be the last storm of the year for Tahoe, as another and perhaps bigger storm will likely bring snow to the region later next week!

JOEL GRATZ

Meteorologist Joel Gratz is the founder and CEO of opensnow.com and is based in Boulder, Colo.

Weekend snow for Colorado

Joel Gratz — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 15:18:00 GMT

Multiple storms will move through Colorado from Thursday through Monday. While none of the storms will be very strong, the combined snow from all storms should make for soft and perhaps powdery conditions over the weekend.

The fist storm moved through on Thursday with a few inches of heavier, thicker snow due to warmer temperatures. While this type of snow is not the traditional light, “blower” powder that many folks look for, it actually is a good thing because it effectively coats the slopes and covers the firm conditions that can result from warmer sunny days and colder nights.

After a break in the weather Thursday night and Friday, another storm will move in from the northwest on Friday night. Unlike the previous storm, this storm will be much colder and should produce at least 2-4 inches of cold, fluffy snow Friday night into Saturday morning. There’s a chance that more than four inches falls as a northwest wind direction is the best wind to bring snow to the I-70 corridor. However, I’d rather be a bit conservative in the forecast and be pleasantly surprised on Saturday morning if more snow falls.

Snow showers should continue Saturday through Monday with a few additional weak storms, but it’s extremely difficult to pinpoint times of heavier snow during this time frame. What I do know is that multiple days and nights of on-and-off snow can produce sneakily good conditions. Let’s hope for the best, and enjoy your time on the hill!

JOEL GRATZ

Meteorologist Joel Gratz is the founder and CEO of opensnow.com and is based in Boulder, Colo.

Colder and Snowier next week

Joel Gratz — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 22:00:00 GMT

It feels like spring this week with the sun shining and temperatures into the 50s. But this warm weather for Tahoe and Colorado will soon be a thing of the past.

The initial change in the weather will arrive this weekend with two weak storms passing through Colorado. The first will bring wet snow to the higher elevations on Saturday, though it’ll be warm enough that liquid precipitation may fall in the valleys at the base of the mountains (I dare not use the “r” word in winter as it is bad luck). The second storm will bring colder air on Sunday afternoon and Sunday evening, which could mean a better chance for lighter, fluffier snow and a small powder day on Monday morning.

But those storms are just the warm up as the main storm will still be in the Pacific Ocean and just flirting with California on Tuesday. By Wednesday, this storm will slam into the west coast and likely bring feet of snow to Tahoe with cold enough air to get snow down to the lake level. While the weather forecasting computer models are somewhat unsure of the details after Wednesday, it’s possible that snow could hang around for Thursday offering another six to perhaps double digits of snowfall.

As this storm moves east from Tahoe on Thursday it will set its sights on Colorado from Thursday night through Friday and perhaps into the early part of the weekend. The exact track of the storm through Colorado will determine the snowfall amounts so it’s too early to know exactly how much powder we’ll be measuring. But it’s somewhat safe to say that it’ll feel a lot more like winter toward the end of next week and there could be some great powder on Friday and perhaps even Saturday if the storm moves into the right position.

JOEL GRATZ

Meteorologist Joel Gratz is the founder and CEO of opensnow.com and is based in Boulder, Colo.

Tahoe and Colorado see a snowy week

Joel Gratz — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 19:02:00 GMT

Tahoe is back in the powder game this week as a storm brought snow to most of the areas around the lake. Two-day totals were 14 inches at Heavenly, 17 inches at Kirkwood, and 19 inches at the summit of Northstar. While the main body of this storm stayed off the coast, it pushed smaller pieces of energy and moisture inland, which helped to create a great powder day on Wednesday. Tahoe will likely see another 7+ day break from the snow, however the weather pattern could become active again by about the 18^th of March.

Colorado also saw snow earlier this week as Monday should have been thought of as a powder day instead of the first day of the work week. Beaver Creek and Keystone reported 9 inches, Vail reported 10 inches, and Breckenridge topped the list with 17 inches.

After a few sunny and spring-like days Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, the storm that affected Tahoe will drift eastward and bring snow to Colorado this weekend. This storm will stay too far south and east to offer its deepest accumulations to the resorts along I-70, though it will through down a few inches on Friday night and then another 2-4 (or perhaps 3-6) inches on Saturday into Saturday. North-facing slopes that have seen less sun over the past few days will likely offer the softest snow during this storm.

The long-range forecast looks sunny next week, but some computer models are hinting at a snowier pattern returning around March 18^th or 20^th. Stay tuned!

JOEL GRATZ

Meteorologist Joel Gratz is the founder and CEO of opensnow.com and is based in Boulder, Colo.

Tahoe gets back into the action

Joel Gratz — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 04:01:00 GMT

The weather has been cold so the snow has stayed quite skiable, but Tahoe hasn’t seen a big storm almost two months, and they’re due. The good news is that the forecast models generally agree that this storm is coming during the middle of next week, around March 6-7.

Before this storm, a weaker storm will brush Tahoe and Colorado as it traverses the northern Rockies on Sunday into Monday. Tahoe might see a few inches, and Colorado could do better with perhaps up to a half foot of new snow. But this storm will be a quick hitter and should be on its way east by Monday evening.

A second, stronger storm looks likely, and it should hit Tahoe on Wednesday into Thursday. This storm will be a slow mover and should also bring with it quite a bit of moisture. Both of these factors point toward the potential for big snow in Tahoe, with double-digit snow totals likely and a powder day on Thursday. And if things work out just right, Colorado could see snow from this storm later in the week into the weekend.

JOEL GRATZ

Meteorologist Joel Gratz is the founder and CEO of opensnow.com and is based in Boulder, Colo.

Lindsey Vonn promises an Olympic comeback

Helen Olsson — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 19:04:00 GMT

Lindsey Vonn is back in Vail recuperating after a season-ending crash on February 5 at the Alpine World Championships in Schladming, Austria. Vonn's crash left her with a torn ACL and MCL and a lateral tibial plateau fracture. She was airlifted from the course and eventually flown back home to Vail, where she had surgery to repair the damaged joint.

Vonn, who won gold in downhill at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, shared her physical and emotional status, her frustrations with the race organizer's decision to forge ahead with the competition in questionable conditions, and her confidence in her ability to make a full comeback looking forward to the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

At the World Championship, racers had inspected the Super G course early in the morning, but a fog rolled in, delaying the start. "In the morning the snow was great, frozen and hard,” said Vonn. “We inspected at 8 a.m. Then the fog came in. We were waiting on the edge of our seats for hours...losing concentration. I ran the course at probably 3:15. I couldn't believe the conditions--it was springlike."

Vonn took a jump at high speed and landed much farther than other racers, which put her in a pile of soft, loose snow. "I could see the snow was different, softer,” she said. “When I landed, my right leg completely stopped, and that's when my knee buckled and I went right over my tips.” While she lay there in the snow, she told her coach they should stop the race because it was not safe to run. The race went on. “Athletes safety should come first and foremost," she said.

The low point for Vonn was sitting in her bus in the parking lot after the injury within earshot of the race finish. She realized her season was over and she wouldn't have the chance to defend her title.

"That's been really hard to digest. I could hear everyone cheering. It was really difficult to be so close to the finish and hear everyone celebrating,” said Vonn. She’s in a better place since returning to Vail. “My friends and family came to town to be with me. My sister's here and taking care of me full time. Right now I'm in a pretty good state. I'm taking it one day at a time."

Vonn has been drawing inspiration from her teammates and other ski racers like Picabo Street, who've come back from similar injuries. "Maria Hoefl-Riesch, she had both ACL's blown out,” explained Vonn. “Knowing that all those girls have come back after injury was really motivating to me.”

Her recuperation schedule includes physical therapy sessions—with patella mobilization, range of motion exercises, and quad activation--twice a day, seven days a week. After PT, she hits the gym for and hour and a half of upper body and core work. She has the luxury, for once, to watch a movie with her sister now and again.

"I'm channeling most of my energy into my workouts. I'm going to have a strong upper body and core. Going to the gym...it makes me feel a lot better,” said Vonn. “I'm hoping to be walking without crutches in six weeks.” She hopes to ski by November, dependent on how her knee responds. “So far...everything looks great.”

Looking forward to the 2014 Olympics, Vonn is taking a positive outlook. "I'm definitely going to be in a different position. I'm the underdog now, and that might help ease the pressure a little bit,” she said. “I have no doubts. I'm looking forward to getting to Sochi and being stronger than before."

Sunday powder for Colorado

Joel Gratz — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 01:07:00 GMT

While the Tahoe area did see a small storm earlier this week, the focus for powder will be in Colorado over the next few days, with Sunday looking like a good powder day for all areas.

A few things are setting up to make Sunday a great day. First and foremost, a powerful storm now over the Northern Pacific Ocean will dive south and east, cross the Rockies, and make a direct strike on Colorado on Saturday afternoon and Saturday night. There is still some uncertainty about whether some of the storm’s energy will dive a bit south of Colorado, but the computer model forecasts are looking good and I’m going to keep a positive attitude.

The second reason Sunday will be good is that moist northwest winds will blow in the wake of the storm on Saturday night and Sunday. This should mean continued snowfall during the day on Sunday.

And last but not least, the most important factor that will help Sunday be a great day is that snow will have fallen on the Colorado mountains from Wednesday night through Saturday morning, with limited or no sun. This means the snow surface should stay soft and cold, just waiting for a fresh dump of powder on Saturday night.

This looks like a great powder weekend, so get out there and enjoy your time on the hill!

JOEL GRATZ

Meteorologist Joel Gratz is the founder and CEO of opensnow.com and is based in Boulder, Colo.

Active pattern for late February

Joel Gratz — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 23:59:00 GMT

The next seven days will be a transition period as the western US setups up for a very snowy end of February.

From now through early this weekend, a northwest flow will be in place from British Columbia down through Colorado. While this pattern leaves Tahoe dry, it will bring snow Thursday through Friday night to the Colorado resorts. In fact, a northwest wind is the best wind direction for Vail and Breckenridge to pick up snow, and local reports from Breckenridge on Thursday morning indicated that the upper bowls were skiing deep and light!

After a quiet weekend, the full transition to a snowy pattern will begin as a large storm will move ashore into Tahoe on Tuesday and then head east into Colorado on Wednesday and Thursday. This storm will have plenty of cold air and is just the first of a series of storms that should keep snow in the forecast over the next two weeks.

The table below shows the predicted snowfall over the next few days, but the biggest story – next week’s storm – is just a bit too far away to make an exact snow forecast. That said, a more general forecast is that both Tahoe and Colorado should see in excess of a foot of snow from next week’s storm, and with additional storms on its heels, the last two weeks of February should be tremendous.

Enjoy your time on the hill!

JOEL GRATZ

Meteorologist Joel Gratz is the founder and CEO of opensnow.com and is based in Boulder, Colo.

Weekend storm for Colorado

Joel Gratz — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 18:55:00 GMT

Last week was a wonderful time for snow in Colorado as a persistent northwest wind covered the I-70 corridor with consistent accumulations from Monday through Thursday. Total accumulations were 24” at Vail, 20” at Breckenridge, 18” at Beaver Creek, and 10” at Keystone. Conditions improved greatly and Vail had one of the best powder days in the last few years.

It’s been a tranquil week, but that will change this weekend as a storm moves ashore in the Pacific Northwest and crosses both Tahoe and Colorado on its way to the east.

For Tahoe, the storm will just brush the region with snow, so amounts will likely top out at 6 inches on the high side. Still, a little fresh snow will go a long way to living the slopes as Tahoe comes out of a somewhat typical January lull in the snowfall. The heaviest snow will fall on Thursday afternoon and Thursday night.

For Colorado, the storm will move directly over the state on Saturday afternoon and this will mean good accumulations from midday Saturday through Sunday morning. On Saturday morning, the storm will be to the west and southerly winds ahead of the storm are not good for snowfall along the mountains near I-70.

But by Saturday afternoon, the storm will zip across the state, winds will shift to the west and northwest, and snow should fill in by afternoon and evening. Four to eight inches could fall for some places by Sunday morning, and snow showers should continue on Sunday through Monday. Enjoy!

JOEL GRATZ

Meteorologist Joel Gratz is the founder and CEO of opensnow.com and is based in Boulder, Colo.

Late January Powder

Joel Gratz — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 06:05:00 GMT

As promised in last week’s update, a series of storms brought consistent snow to northern Colorado from last Thursday to this Thursday, and conditions have improved dramatically in only a week. While Tahoe is still searching for the next storm to bring it out of a sunny and dry January lull, Colorado is doing its best to catch up to the early snowfall that covered the Sierra Nevada mountains further west.

The first storm brushed northern Colorado last Thursday with not much more than a dusting. Then a very moist storm moved up from the south and covered the southern two thirds of the state with clouds and snow. While Vail, Beaver Creek, Keystone, and Breckenridge were on the northern end of this storm, they still managed to capture a few inches of snow. Since the storm was so moist, the snow was actually thicker and heavier than normal, but this was actually a blessing as it nicely covered some hard sections of the trails and the skiing was surprisingly good on Sunday. As a bonus, the moisture in the storm left many low clouds surrounding the mountains, and this created incredible views. This is Mt. Holy Cross, seen from Vail on Sunday.

The “money” storm came through on Monday as more moisture and cold air created better conditions for snow for the western resorts, with Beaver Creek and Vail reporting the deepest snow with 10” and 8” respectively. Then the fourth storm in the series moved in late Tuesday night and continued through Thursday morning, and this time snow fell from Beaver Creek to Keystone as northwest winds can bring good snowfall along the length of the I-70 corridor. Combining the new, heavier snow on Monday with the lighter snow on Wednesday made this is game changer of a week for snow conditions. The mountains are now riding better than any time this season.

Looking ahead, a storm will impact Colorado late next week, but there’s too much uncertainty to know exactly when. This same storm might hit Tahoe before arriving in Colorado, but that’s also uncertain. Keep doing your snow dances and hope for the best!

JOEL GRATZ

Meteorologist Joel Gratz is the founder and CEO of opensnow.com and is based in Boulder, Colo.

Powder for Colorado

Joel Gratz — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 18:56:00 GMT

While January started dry, it’ll end snowy. I’ve been tracking this change in the weather pattern for over a week, and while the details are still not set in stone, it does look like the last week of January will offer powder across the I-70 corridor from Beaver Creek to Vail to Breckenridge to Keystone.

To set the stage, plentiful Pacific moisture is streaming eastward and will saturate the air over Colorado from Thursday (January 24^th) through the middle of next week. While this moisture brought a few inches of snow to Tahoe and a few more inches could fall over the weekend, the main story will be snowfall in Colorado.

One weak storm will bring a few inches on Thursday night (January 24^th), and another weak storm will move through southern Colorado and only bring a few inches to the Vail resorts from Saturday afternoon through Sunday morning.

The bigger story will be the strong storm that moves across the state on Monday night through Wednesday morning (January 30^th). This is still a bit far into the future for me to provide a reliably specific forecast, but it does look likely that Tuesday and perhaps Wednesday could be nice powder days with a cold front bringing chilly air and continued snowfall for those two days. I’m not quite ready to get super excited about this possibility because some details of the storm will change between now and then. However, the trend toward snowier weather is here, and it’s OK to get a little excited even five days before a storm:-)

Thankfully, the longer-range forecasts show a snowier pattern heading into February, so it looks like the January dryness is behind us for now.

JOEL GRATZ

Meteorologist Joel Gratz is the founder and CEO of opensnow.com and is based in Boulder, Colo.

Waiting for the weather to change

Joel Gratz — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 13:55:00 GMT

This happens every winter, but it never gets any easier to digest. Another week of snowless weather is in store, and while life is good with the sun shinning and the low sun angle preserving the existing snow, I know you want me to tell you that this story ends well with plenty of fresh powder on the horizon. So, is the long range forecast favorable?

True to form as a meteorologist, my response is “maybe”. After another week of dry weather with a large ridge of high pressure covering the western half of the US, a storm will finally break down this ridge and hit the Pacific Northwest on about January 23^rd. As this storm moves east and southeast, it could clip northern California with a bit of snow and also bring a slightly better chance of snow to northern Colorado.

More importantly, there’s a good chance that a stronger storm or two might move through both California and Colorado between January 26^th and the end of the month. While those storms are over 10 days away and therefore impossible to predict the details of any snowfall, at least the trend is back toward snowier weather as the month comes to close. Do your snow dance!

JOEL GRATZ

Meteorologist Joel Gratz is the founder and CEO of opensnow.com and is based in Boulder, Colo.