Windy weather will dominate parts of Colorado’s high country over the next two days, with gusts between 50-60 mph on ridge tops possible and 30-40 mph at the ski areas in the Front Range and Sawatch mountains.

Some light snow is forecast to develop on Wednesday for the northern mountains, but then a possible 10ish-day dry spell looms in the middle of the month.

Possible snow before Christmas? Chances are looking better.

Recap:

Monday’s weather brought a few inches to the northern mountains, otherwise the state’s high country was fairly quiet.

Tuesday was a very windy day in the mountains, especially the Front Range. The Homestead Rd at W Beaver Brook (top of Floyd Hill) CDOT weather station recorded a wind gust of 86 mph at 5:06 p.m., and the Dakota Hill ASOS/AWOS weather station north of Idaho Springs recorded a wind gust of 90 mph at 4:53 a.m.

Snow also developed in the northern mountains throughout the day, with between 1-3 inches falling for Wednesday’s first chairs.

Forecast:

On Wednesday and Thursday, wind will return to the Front Range mountains and Sawatch Mountains mostly, with gusts forecast to be between 50-60 mph or more.

Snow will more than likely scour from west facing slopes onto eastern facing slopes over the next 48 hours, creating wind slabs on leeward faces, but could also transport some snow onto ski area slopes and fill in gaps allowing for possible terrain openings throughout the rest of the week; maybe.

Some additional snow is forecast to fall during the day Wednesday, but after that the state could be entering a long dry spell as mid-month approaches.

Forecasted additional snowfall from the European model for Wednesday’s storm in the northern mountains is between 1-2 inches and in the central and southern mountains most likely nothing at all.

From Thursday to Sunday, sunny skies will dominate Colorado’s high country, with high temperatures in the low 40s at the base areas and low- to mid-30s mid mountain and at the summits.

On Saturday night and overnight Sunday, some arctic air is forecast to back into the Front Range of Colorado and eastern Plains as a sagging blast of very cold air will drive temperatures in the northern Plains and Grand Lakes region well below zero.

Early morning lows in Denver could be nearly equal to the early morning low in Steamboat, however, no snow is associated with this cold plunge.

Long-term forecast:

Current weather forecasts from Monday, Dec. 15 to Saturday, Dec. 20, appear Colorado is too far south for any good storms to bring snow to the high country, and overall sunny conditions will most likely prevail.

The next better chance for snow starts around Saturday, Dec. 20, giving the state possible fresh snow for a couple of days a few days before Christmas.

More model runs will need to render to dial in better details regarding any storm activity this far out, including snowfall totals, timing and duration of storm(s).

Colorado ski resorts’ planned opening dates and 24-hour totals:

Arapahoe Basin – 2″

Aspen Highlands – Dec. 13

Aspen Mountain – 0″

Beaver Creek – 0″

Breckenridge – 1″

Buttermilk – Dec. 13

Cooper – 0″

Copper Mountain – 0″

Crested Butte – 0″

Echo Mountain – Dec. 12

Eldora Mountain – 1″

Granby Ranch – 0″

Hesperus – Closed for the season

Howelsen Hill – 0″

Kendall Mountain – Dec. 13

Keystone – 1″

Loveland – 4″

Monarch – 0″

Powderhorn – 0″

Purgatory – 0″

Silverton – Private mountain after Dec. 1, Guided and Heli season Dec. 27

Snowmass – 0″

Steamboat – 1″

Sunlight – Dec. 12

Telluride – 0″

Vail – 0″

Winter Park – 0″

Wolf Creek – 0″