For 2/15/09: We came up a little short of the 6” I was calling for but the resort is reporting 5” new and we do have some clear skies on tap early. Look for these sunny skies to be short lived with another pacific wave brewing in the west that will build into the area overnight and through Monday.

As skies cleared overnight it allowed enough radiational cooling to offer same cold temperatures for this morning with Gunnison reporting -6 degrees while Crested Butte stayed a bit warmer at -3 degrees. We are not seeing a true inversion set up but it will take a little longer for the lower valleys to rebound to the high 20’s we are expecting for highs valley wide. Increased cloud cover tonight will return us to lows closer to 0 and above but be prepared for another cold night if this next round of moisture and cloud cover gets staled.

The dominant flow of the western weather pattern will turn to the southwest through today with increasing cloud cover likely into tomorrow. The next pacific system will be on us by tomorrow night with snow falling into Tuesday afternoon and offering the best chance at some significant snowfall that we have seen. For today, be sure to layer up and expect some changes with increasing cloud cover but don’t forget the sunscreen and reapply often.

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