While meteorologists’ predictions aren’t always accurate in the Rocky Mountains due to their challenging terrain, the snowstorm over the weekend delivered and met forecast expectations.
What started out as a winter storm watch Thursday soon turned into a winter storm warning by Friday afternoon. The storm predictions started with top-end forecasts for 8 inches, but by Friday, meteorologists said snow totals could reach as high as 2 feet.
“Forecasts are not always accurate, but this one was pretty darn good, and we have decades of global investment in satellites, radars, sensors, research, and computation to thank for the three-day heads up that the central and northern mountains could get a lot of snow,” OpenSnow founder and lead meteorologist Joel Gratz said in one of his daily blog posts, which give forecasts and snow totals for Colorado ski areas and resorts.
Breckenridge Ski Resort received more than 20 inches of fresh powder by Sunday morning at its mid-mountain location, according to a live stream of its snow stake posted on Instagram, and many other mountains reported more than a foot of fresh powder by Sunday at noon.
Keystone Resort saw 12 inches, Copper Mountain Resort saw 15 inches, and Loveland Ski Area saw about 13 inches, according to OpenSnow.com.