30 Inches of Snow Just Fell on Pikes Peak, Colorado

The arrival of spring snow served as a reminder that, even as most ski resorts throughout Colorado have closed, the ski season isn't over. Yesterday, Arapahoe Basin, which is known for hosting the state’s longest lift-accessed ski season, shared a series of photos documenting the snow conditions.
 
Spoiler alert: they looked dang good.

But the new snow was also cause for concern.

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC) has issued a Special Avalanche Advisory that includes Pikes Peak and lasts through the end of Thursday afternoon, warning of both dry slab and loose wet avalanches. The CAIC’s forecast advised, “Avalanche conditions will be dangerous on Thursday as the concern rapidly changes from dry to wet avalanches.”

At Pikes Peak, in the Sangre de Cristo Range, and in the southeastern San Juan Mountains, the CAIC forecasted “considerable” avalanche danger near and above the treeline for Thursday, indicating that human-triggered avalanches are likely.

The storm might have produced Colorado’s last significant mountain snowfall before next winter starts. NOAA’s seasonal temperature outlook for May, June, and July suggests that temperatures in Colorado will likely be above normal as summer begins. And the seasonal precipitation outlook for the same period points towards below normal precipitation.

For now, though, the ski season in the Centennial State continues in the backcountry (be safe and heed the CAIC’s guidance before planning a trip) and at a small handful of ski resorts, so no need to pack up your equipment quite yet.

Arapahoe Basin might be the star of the Colorado spring skiing show—last year it remained open until June 16—but a few other ski resorts, like Breckenridge and Copper Mountain, plan to stay open through the end of this weekend.