A major snowstorm is forecast to hit the Colorado mountains this weekend, bringing a wave of snow — up to a foot or more in many places — after an extended dry spell and amid a record-low snowpack statewide.

Meteorologist Seth Linden — who runs Seth’s Weather Report, a popular Facebook page that provides mountain forecasts — said that while the storm will favor the southern mountains, it is expected to deliver snow to all of the state’s major ski resorts.

“We have sort of a combination of storms,” Linden said. “It’s basically a southern track with some moisture combining with a northern track trough coming out of the northwest, and as that sweeps down into Colorado, it’s going to pull cold air in. It’s going to kind of combine over Colorado.”

The storm will roll into the mountains beginning Friday morning, hitting the San Juan Mountains around 11 a.m. before spreading into the central and northern mountains by about 2 p.m., Linden said. The brunt of the storm will continue until about 5 p.m. on Saturday with the potential for a secondary wave of snow from about 2 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, he said.

With this storm, Linden said Steamboat Resort is a “wild card,” with an estimated 4 to 8 inches in the forecast.

“But I will say this, of all the places I’ve found in Colorado in terms of ski areas, Steamboat is one of the absolute hardest to forecast,” Linden said. “The models just struggle.”

Ski resorts in the southern half of the state, including Wolf Creek Ski Area and Crested Butte Mountain Resort could see the most fresh snow, between 12 and 18 inches of fresh snow or more, Linden said. Aspen-Snowmass is also favored, with between 10 to 16 inches of snow possible this weekend.

Vail Mountain and Beaver Creek Resort should also see substantial amounts of snow, in the range of 8 to 14 inches, Linden said. Ski resorts in Summit County, including Copper Mountain, Breckenridge Resort, Keystone Resort and Arapahoe Basin Ski Area, will likely see slightly less snow, with 6 to 12 inches forecast. Loveland Ski Area and Winter Park Resort could also see up to a foot of fresh snow.

Along with abundant snow, Linden noted that this storm is expected to pull frigid air from the north down into the mountains. 

While temperatures on Friday are expected to start out in the teens to low 20s, by Saturday high-elevation areas like Summit County and Aspen could see temperatures in the single digits. By Sunday, temperatures are forecast to drop below zero, with lows of minus 15 to minus 10 degrees and highs in the single digits.

“We’re looking at probably the coldest temps of the season for Saturday and Sunday in the mountains,” Linden said, noting that anyone who is planning to ski should dress in extra layers to stay warm.

With Colorado’s snowpack sitting at historic lows, the incoming storm will be the largest of the calendar year so far and one of only a handful of storms that has brought significant snow to the mountains this winter season.

Statewide, the snowpack has sat at the zeroth percentile, or the lowest on record for more than a week. While Colorado would have to see multiple large snowstorms to rebound to normal snowpack levels, Linden said he expects this storm will get the state “off the floor” from its current record lows.

Although Linden isn’t seeing signs of a major pattern shift that would bring a string of significant storms to Colorado, he noted that “every little bit of snow helps” and “it does look colder and snowier overall.” That’s good news not only for skiers and snowboarders, but for Colorado’s water supply and fire risk next summer, which are tied closely to snowpack levels.

Following this weekend, Coloradans can expect a short dry spell from about Monday through Wednesday, Linden said. But by Thursday, forecast models are showing the potential for another storm toward the tail end of January and potentially even another storm to start out February, he said.

The weak La Nina pattern that has dominated the season so far is fading out, with longer-term forecast models showing a shift to a neutral pattern that could bring slightly better chances of precipitation through the state.

“La Nina transitions to neutral, maybe even El Nino, by the time we get to spring/summer,” Linden said. “That should kick the storm track into higher gear over Colorado — that’s my hope.”

La Nina is a pattern characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the Pacific near the equator, while El Nino is a pattern characterized by unusually warm ocean temperatures, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In Colorado, El Nino tends to bring wetter springs and summers to the mountains.

While it remains to be seen what the long-term forecasts bring, Linden said at least this weekend he and other Coloradans will be out enjoying the fresh snow.

“I’m looking forward to skiing powder,” he said. “I make it a goal to ski as much untracked pow as I can, and that’s within the bounds of a full-time job, busy family with two kids, the weather report and everything else.”