Winter Storm Rolls Into Colorado

By Bob Berwyn, 12-01-07

Skiers in the southern Rockies are licking their chops, or at least waxing their boards this weekend, watching a storm that could drop several feet of snow in Colorado’s southwestern mountains before all is said and done. As of Saturday afternoon (Dec 1), Silverton Mountain and Wolf Creek were reporting 36 inches of new snow. Telluride, Aspen, Crested Butte and Sunlight all reported around a foot snow, while the resorts west of Denver along the I-70 corridor Summit County, Vail and Beaver Creek, Loveland and Arapahoe Basin reported between six and 10 inches, with snow still falling. Check the Colorado Ski Country USA snow report for updated totals.

The heavy snow in the San Juans of southwest Colorado prompted an avalanche warning from the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC). The avalanche danger is rated as high on most aspects near and above treeline. The warning is in effect through 8 a.m., Dec. 2, although backcountry travelers should check the CAIC web site for updated conditions.

The short-term forecast is good news after a slew of gloomy seasonal outlooks based on the potential effects of La Niña, when cooler-than-normal sea surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific often drive the storm track away from the Southwest and up into Washington, Oregon and British Columbia.

Good snowmaking weather, along with the new snow, have enabled the Summit Country resorts to open additional terrain in the past few days. More runs could be opening soon thanks to the early December storm.