Windy conditions in Colorado’s high country are forecast for Wednesday ahead of light snow Thursday as December’s wild weather continues.

A larger storm for the weekend will add snow to the northern and central mountains mainly.

A few-days lull in storminess is forecast ahead of Christmas, however, a broader reaching storm is on the horizon to begin Christmas Day, bringing more snow to all three mountain zones.

Recap:

More wind was experienced in the Front Range foothills, especially on Tuesday, where a wind gust of 72 mph was recorded at Niwot Ridge near Eldora Mountain Resort in Boulder, County.

Downsloping winds on the east side of the Continental Divide provided warm conditions at some ski areas, but the warm air stayed in the east too. Eldora’s high temperature on Tuesday was 37 degrees, whereas Keystone’s was 25 degrees.

Forecast:

A very windy day is forecast on Wednesday and Wednesday night for the Front Range Mountains from the Wyoming/Colorado state line to Colorado Springs in the north and in the Wet and Sangre de Cristo mountains from Pueblo to the Colorado/New Mexico state line in the south.

Westerly winds of between 30-50 mph with gusts up to 90 mph are expected.

Windy conditions are also forecast in the Sawatch Mountains in central Colorado and the Rabbit Ears Range north of Kremmling and Park Range near Steamboat in north-central Colorado.

Late Wednesday morning snow is forecast to develop in the northern mountains along with the wind.

Snow will end overnight Thursday, providing a light powder day and snowfall totals of between 3-6 inches in the northern mountains with the highest amounts in the Park Range, in the central mountains between 1-6 inches with the highest amounts north of Glenwood Springs and in the southern mountains between a trace-1 inch with any snowfall recorded in the northern San Juan Mountains near Silverton.

Wind transport of snow from west facing slopes to east facing slopes will load up avalanche prone areas. It is possible the Colorado Avalanche Information Center issues an avalanche alert for backcountry travelers starting Thursday morning on certain aspects, even with current low snow accumulations.

Similar to prior forecasts, light snow is trending toward redeveloping Thursday night through Friday morning in the northern mountains where an additional 1-2 inches could fall for Friday’s first chairs.

On Friday night, one more shot of storm energy pushes through Colorado and is forecast to bring more snow through Saturday evening.

This wave is still focused on northern and central Colorado primarily, with an additional 4-6 inches possible in the northern mountains with the highest amounts once again around Steamboat, in the central mountains between 2-3 inches with the highest amounts in the northern Sawatch Mountains and north and south of Glenwood Springs, and in the southern mountains between 1-2 inches nearly all in the northern San Juan Mountains.

Sunday’s skiing and riding is forecast to be calmer around Colorado heading into the start of the Christmas week, however, a short wave of storminess could bring light snow Sunday night to extreme northern Colorado.

Long-term forecast:

From Monday to Wednesday, Christmas Eve Colorado is forecast to be dry yet windy again ahead of a potential storm from overnight Thursday, Dec. 25 Christmas Day to late Friday, Dec. 26 morning.

This storm is still forecasting to bring some snow to the southern mountains, more than the previous two, but after 48 hours of additional model runs, the renderings have the majority of the snow falling by Friday, Dec. 26 evening in the west-central and northern mountains primarily.

One more storm wave is possible to start Sunday, Dec. 28 evening and last through Monday, Dec. 29 early afternoon.

Colorado ski resorts 24-hour totals:

Arapahoe Basin – 0″

Aspen Highlands – 0″

Aspen Mountain – 0″

Beaver Creek – 0″

Breckenridge – 0″

Buttermilk – 0″

Cooper – 0″

Copper Mountain – 0″

Crested Butte – 0″

Cuchara – 0″

Echo Mountain – 0″

Eldora Mountain – 0″

Granby Ranch – 0″

Hesperus – Closed for the season

Howelsen Hill – 0″

Kendall Mountain – 0″

Keystone – 0″

Loveland – 0″

Monarch – 0″

Powderhorn – 0″

Purgatory – 0″

Silverton – Guided & Heli season Dec. 27

Snowmass – 0″

Steamboat – 0″

Sunlight – 0″

Telluride – 0″

Vail – 0″

Winter Park – 0″

Wolf Creek – 0″