Snow gods grant intermittent flurries on Aspen area this weekend
Ray K. Erku/The Aspen Times
While more snow is expected for the valley over the weekend, according to forecasters, it’s nothing that will be “too spectacular” compared to recent storms experienced throughout the past week.
Mark Miller, forecaster with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction, said the region is still in the middle of an unsettled weather pattern that’s expected to continue for the next couple of days that will produce intermittent snow showers. A more defined system started making its way across the southern portion of eastern Utah and western Colorado on Thursday evening and into the overnight hours.
As that system moves through the area throughout Friday, he said there’s an additional weather disturbance expected to follow through into Saturday but will likely produce minor accumulations and mainly pass to the south, especially around the San Juan region.
“For the most part, it’s going to be around like two to four inches (in Aspen). Maybe some of those higher spots, you can get more into the four to eight range,” he said. “But overall, not nearly as much as what we’ve received over the past few days. This is certainly going to be favoring more of the San Juans. Some of those higher peaks, more like the four to eight range, maybe some lucky spots could get close to 10 or maybe a foot, but it seems kind of unlikely at this point.”
According to onthesnow.com, the Aspen Snowmass snow report as of Thursday was a 36-60″ base depth, with a total of 28 feet over the past week, with much of that coming in over last weekend. Six feet was recorded for Thursday and the highest on last Saturday with 9 feet.
Looking ahead, the snow forecast looks to be minimal with a foot predicted throughout Friday and 0.3 feet for Saturday, which aligns with what Miller said was expected after the system clears out Sunday morning.
“I think we’re heading into a bit of a break here where we actually have some quiet weather and probably even a warming trend as well as we start getting a ridge of high pressure building in,” he said. “So really the main idea is going to be looking pretty active, unsettled intermittent snow showers, not going to add up to a whole lot, but it’ll still be snowing for a good period, basically through Saturday; and then, once we get to Sunday and into early next week, things start to quiet down.”
In terms of what you should know, Miller said the weather service always likes to advise people to “Know Before You Go.” He said it’s important to make sure you’re aware of what’s coming by staying tuned to the forecast, which he said is always updating to ensure the latest information is available along with road conditions.
“Cotrip.org is a great resource to see traffic cameras and road closures,” he said. “The name of the game is to really just stay safe, be prepared, and know what you’re getting into if you’re going to be hanging out over the next few days, especially this Saturday.”
To reach Jonson Kuhn, email him at jkuhn@aspentimes.com.
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