Steamboat Ski Resort has seen its first snowfall of the season, with a couple inches reported at mid-mountain last Thursday night and Friday morning and additional accumulation recorded Sunday night into Monday morning.

According to local meteorologist Michael Weissbluth, who posts twice a week forecasts to SnowAlarm.com, the initial high-elevation snowfall late last week came with thunderstorms that brought about a half-inch of rain to downtown Steamboat Springs.

The precipitation resumed Sunday night into Monday, but Weissbluth anticipated skies would “grudgingly clear Monday ahead of a warm and dry workweek.”

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The first snow to fall this season preceded varying degrees of lasting fog on Saturday and Sunday, according to Weissbluth, who noted a deck of low-hanging moisture in the area began early Saturday and lasted until just before 10 a.m. The layer returned around 4 p.m. and lasted until sunset.

“This was a very interesting meteorological phenomenon and was likely due the easterly winds aloft bouncing along the top of the status deck through most of the day thanks to the stable atmosphere in the presence of a temperature inversion,” according to Weissbluth.

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On Sunday, a more typical layer of fog returned just before 6 a.m. and lingered until late morning, the result of cool air drained from the southern parts of the Yampa Valley, he added.

Looking ahead, Weissbluth anticipated clouds would “grudgingly depart by Monday afternoon” and leave high temperatures just below the area’s seasonal average of 57 degrees in the days following.

“But locals know clearing skies behind a storm usually means a cold morning follows, and we could see the first hard freeze in the Yampa Valley on Tuesday morning, with temperatures falling to within several degrees of our average low of 25 degrees,” he said.

A flat ridge of high pressure is forecast to build over the West behind the storm, bringing sunny skies and warming temperatures 5-10 degrees above average through the current workweek — with the pleasant weather potentially lasting through the upcoming weekend, Weissbluth said.

The southwestern San Juan Mountain Range saw the most snow accumulation between Friday and Sunday, with around 10-30 inches in the highest-elevation areas, according to the National Weather Service. 

Wolf Creek reported 22 inches of snow over the weekend and plans to open Tuesday, Oct. 22 — making it the first ski area of the 2024-25 season to turn its lifts. 

In the central and northern Rockies, snow accumulation was closer to 8-11 inches. Here’s where totals stood as of Monday, according to ski area snow cams: 

Northern mountains 

• Steamboat Ski Resort: 7 inches 
• Winter Park Ski Resort: 8 inches 

Summit County area

• Copper Mountain Resort: 12.5 inches
• Loveland Ski Area: 10 inches
• Breckenridge Ski Resort: 10 inches
• Arapahoe Basin Ski Area: 9 inches
• Keystone Resort: 8 inches

Vail area 

• Vail Mountain: 9 inches 
• Beaver Creek Resort: 7 inches

Aspen

• Aspen Mountain: 4 inches
• Aspen Highlands: 2 inches
• Buttermilk: 1 inch 
• Aspen Snowmass: 0 inches