New snow, lively crowds make for festive President’s Day weekend in Vail, Beaver Creek
Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily
President’s Day is often a busy time in Vail and Beaver Creek as visitors flock to our mountains to enjoy the three-day holiday weekend. Add fresh snow into the mix, and the crowds, and their enthusiasm, are greatly amplified.
With generous storms hitting both Friday and Saturday, and then some sunshine to follow, this was certainly the case in Eagle County. The weekend kicked off with a bigger-than-expected snowstorm hitting early Friday morning, followed by a Friday night shower that went almost exactly as predicted. The result: both Vail and Beaver Creek mountains greeted powderhounds from near and afar with over a fresh foot of accumulation by Saturday morning. By afternoon, the skies had cleared to pristine bluebird conditions, and the crowds responded accordingly.
“Saturday was a gorgeous day with fresh snow in the morning and bluebird skies during the day. It doesn’t get much better than that,” wrote Joel Gratz, founding meteorologist of OpenSnow.com.
Fresh refills were granted on Sunday, with flakes falling right as the chairlifts started spinning.
More snow coming this week
Monday is expected to be mostly dry (favoring those getting on the roads to go home), but more snow is expected for Eagle County throughout the remainder of the week. With varying forecasts for each day, experts are predicting the area could see up to 10 extra inches of precipitation before the weekend.
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“At the lower end, the flakes will give us a bit of a refresh at times with the best chance for softer snow being on Thursday and/or Friday morning. At the higher end, we might have some powder to enjoy on Wednesday, Thursday, and/or Friday morning,” Gratz wrote.
Next weekend’s conditions are expected to be mostly dry, though Gratz is optimistic that something big is brewing for next week. “I have pretty high confidence that there will be a strong storm early next week,” he wrote.
