Big changes coming as 10-15 inches of snow possible from incoming weekend storm, second snow event could double figure to start 2026

No Colorado ski area or resort has surpassed 70 inches of reported or estimated total snowfall amounts for the season heading into the last few days of 2025.

However, two snow events are forecast, one this weekend to close out 2025 (Dec. 27-28), one to start 2026 (Jan 2-5), and both could significantly impact, in a good way, the state’s snowpack and ski areas’ abilities to open new terrain after a sub-par showing during the Christmas week.

Recap:

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were rather warm in Colorado’s high country. The high temperature at Vail Mountain on Dec. 24 was 43 degrees and on Dec. 25 was 39 degrees.

Snow was supposed to make its way onto Colorado’s slopes on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but that really didn’t happen. Some precipitation came in in the form of rain like at Purgatory, Steamboat and Vail.

Not one ski area in Colorado has eclipsed 70 inches of recorded snowfall for the 2025-26 season.

Ski area season snowfall approximate totals for winter 2025-26 are as follows:

• Loveland: 62″
• Silverton: 60″
• Wolf Creek: 60″
• Keystone: 58″
• Winter Park: 56″
• Arapahoe Basin: 54″
• Snowmass: 49″
• Copper Mountain: 48″
• Vail: 48″
• Monarch: 46″
• Telluride: 42″
• Breckenridge: 41″
• Aspen Highlands: 39″
• Aspen Mountain: 39″
• Steamboat: 39″
• Eldora: 36″
• Crested Butte: 35″
• Cooper: 33″
• Beaver Creek: 32″
• Kendall: 29″
• Purgatory: 27″
• Sunlight: 26″
• Howelsen Hill: 25″
• Buttermilk: 22″
• Echo: 22″
• Powderhorn: 18″
• Granby Ranch: 10″

Forecast:

Friday’s forecast calls for breezy conditions during the day ahead of a weekend storm that should help with the snowpack, open more terrain and bring much needed snow for the busy New Year’s week coming up.

Snow is forecast to fall from west to east and in all three mountain zones Friday night, and the potential for powder days on Saturday and Sunday is growing.

The European ECWMF model has snow falling through late Saturday night/overnight Sunday morning and some sizeable totals could be close to 20 inches when all is said and done on mountain tops around Steamboat, Powderhorn and Wolf Creek.

Forecasted snowfall totals by Sunday morning in the northern mountains are between 7-20 inches with the highest amounts in the Park and Medicine Bow ranges, in the central mountains between 2-16 inches with potentially Monarch seeing very little and Powderhorn the most, and in the southern mountains between 2-10 inches with the highest amounts in the eastern San Juan Mountains near Wolf Creek.

From Sunday to Thursday, New Year’s Day, conditions will return to calm, warmish and dry across the high country. High temperatures will rise back to the mid 30s at most ski area bases and mid 20s at the summits by Tuesday. However with the weekend’s new snow and low sun angle, minimal snow melting should happen.

Long-term forecast:

New Year’s Day night the next storm is forecast to work its way into Colorado, and this one could bring a bit more snow than the last.

Forecast models have snow flying from overnight Friday through Monday, Jan. 5 for all three mountain zones, including on the eastern side of the Front Range, and should come through in two waves; Friday through Saturday night and Sunday mid morning through Monday night.

The southern and central mountains are trending toward receiving the highest overall totals from the multi-day storm, but all three zones could see

The first storm wave favors the southern and west-central mountains, the second wave favors the central and northern mountains.

Like everything this winter, this forecast could change over the next week. More model runs will hone in better details for this first snow event of 2026, including snowfall totals, timing and duration.

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″