Steamboat Springs — Snow totals this week will determine whether Steamboat Ski Area experiences its driest January on record.

The good news is that snow is back in the forecast.

“There is hope!” meteorologist Joel Gratz wrote Tuesday on his website http://www.opensnow.com.

So far in January, Steamboat has measured 10.75 inches of snow at mid-mountain. The worst January in the resort’s history was in 1981 when 17 inches was measured at mid-mountain.

On average, January yields 74.78 inches of snow and is typically the snowiest month of the season.

“We all love snow,” ski area spokesman Mike Lane said Tuesday in an email. “It’s the reason we live in Steamboat. While we always want more snow, conditions on the mountain are currently skiing and riding smoothly with hardly a lift line to be seen.”

Lane said the ski area’s grooming team was doing an “amazing” job every night keeping the trails in good shape.

“There’s an art to grooming the slopes, and our operators are some of the very best in the business, and it’s showing,” Lane said.

Gratz said all Colorado mountains could see some snow through Wednesday night.

“This system has a lot of moisture, so if we get lucky and there is a bit more energy than forecast, we could eek out a bit more snow,” Gratz said.

With high temperatures expected to be in the upper 30s on Wednesday, snow accumulations could be limited. Gratz said the snow will fall above 7,500 to 8,000 feet.

The base of the ski area sits at 6,900 feet. The mid-mountain snow-measuring site is at 9,080 feet.

The weather Thursday is expected to be dry before another system moves into the area Friday. Gratz said the most snow in Colorado would probably fall in the southern mountains.

“For the central and northern mountains, the moisture is good, but we’ll need to get lucky with the placement of the storm’s track and energy in order to crank out healthy snowfall,” Gratz said.

To reach Matt Stensland, call 970-871-4247, email mstensland@SteamboatToday.com or follow him on Twitter @SBTStensland