For 12/31/08: Happy New Year’s Eve. Be smart. One more day of sunny skies before we see this northern system graze the area but layer up as we are expecting changes through the day. Look for the classic mare’s tails and fish scales building early with heavier cloud cover on tap into tonight. The dynamics of this system are pretty good but limited moisture will keep potential accumulation to a minimum.

Temperatures have plummeted again overnight in the lower valleys with Crested Butte reporting an overnight low of -5 degrees while Gunnison has dropped to -19 degrees. The movement produced by this system pushing through to the north should provide some better mixing but it may not be enough to scour this stubborn inversion. Daytime highs today will climb towards 30 degrees valley wide with insulating cloud cover moderating overnight lows but still dropping to the single digits and below for the lower valleys.

Scattered snow showers and lingering cloud cover will hold through New Year’s Day with a gap between systems opening up some sunshine for Friday. Another round building into the area for the weekend will present another swing at some new snow but it’s not looking like a direct hit from either the north or south and snow will be limited as a result.

Look for a complete Crested Butte and Gunnison weather report, 24 hour trends and real time weather information now available at WWW.CBTV.TV.