Summit County Citizens Voice

Amazing snowpack readings around much of Colorado.

4 to 8 inches of snow possible by Saturday morning

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — After a short taste of spring, it looks like winter will make a comeback over the weekend as a strong cold front dives southeast out of Utah and sweep across Colorado, bringing a chance for several inches of snow. Much of the high country is under a winter weather advisory through mid-day Saturday, with 4 to 8 inches of snow possible in the northern mountains.Freeze warnings have been issued for the western valleys of Colorado. Moderate to heavy snow could fall with the passage of the front Friday afternoon and evening, with showers lingering into the first part of the weekend.

The warmest temperatures of the weekend are likely Friday morning. The front will drop readings by as much as 20 degrees, with forecast highs below freezing (about 29 degrees) both Saturday and Sunday, then rebounding to reach the mid-40s again by the middle of next week. Those readings are well below normal, with average high in Frisco for April 30 at 51 degrees. The record high is 70 degrees, set in 1943, and the record low is 5 degrees, set in 1918.

Leadville claimed the country’s icebox title yesterday with a low of 8 degrees, while El Centro, California was the hotspot, at 101 degrees.

For the longer-term, it looks like unsettled weather will continue through next week, at least on and off, as yet another disturbance slides through the broad trough of low pressure across the west. A low pressure center forming in Arizona Sunday could bring some needed snow to the southern Colorado mountains, where the snowpack is still a bit below normal.

Across the central and northern mountains, the snowpack continued to grow in April, with some amazing readings as the month comes to an end. The Loveland Basin SNOTEL site at 11,400 feet is reporting 108 inches of snow, with 85 inches at Grizzly Peak in the Snake River Basin and 66 inches at Copper Mountain (10,500 feet).

In the Colorado River Basin, the overall snowpack is at 149 percent of average, with even higher readings in the northwestern and north-central mountains. Even the southwest corner of the state has caught up a bit, with the snowpack at 94 percent of average in the San Juans, but a bit lower in the headwaters of the Rio Grande.

Filed under: climate and weather, La Niña, seasons, snow, Snow and weather, Summit County snow and weather Tagged: | Copper Mountain, Grizzly Peak, SNOTEL, Summit County Colorado, Summit County News, Summit County snow and weather, weatherblog