After a rather dry November in Colorado’s high country, Loveland Ski Area recorded 25″ of snow for the month currently, December’s forecast looks more promising as more storms line up over the next week.

Snow returns Friday to close out the month on a snowy note, with the northern mountains benefiting the most.

As December begins, a larger system is forecast to bring between 6-12 inches for all three mountain zones, creating more base snow to allow ski areas to open more terrain and potentially the first powder day of the new month.

Recap:

Snow showers brought a touch of snow to the northern mountains on Wednesday.

Snowmaking was still happening at night, however, and with good efforts from the maintenance teams at Purgatory Mountain Resort north of Durango, the ski area announced Wednesday that it will open for skiing and riding today, Friday, Nov. 28.

Sixteen Colorado ski areas or resorts are now open as the last weekend of November starts.

Thanksgiving Thursday saw dry and cool conditions across the state’s ski areas, with high temperatures in the low 30s and upper 20s.

Forecast:

On Friday, warmer temperatures will precede a cold front dipping southeastward across Colorado Friday night, one which will bring snow to the northern mountains through Saturday afternoon.

Forecasted snowfall accumulations by Saturday’s first chairs in the northern mountains are between 2-4 inches, in the central mountains between 1-3 inches with the majority of snow falling in Pitkin and Gunnison counties, and in the southern mountains between a trace-1 inch with any snow falling only in the northern San Juans around Ouray and in the La Garita Mountains.

Snow returns Sunday (storm day) to all three mountain zones, and is forecast to last through Monday (“powder day”) afternoon.

This storm track has the northern mountains picking up an additional 3-7 inches, the central mountains an additional 3-7 inches and the southern mountains 5-9 inches.

This area of low pressure is forecast to travel across the Four Corners region from northwest to southeast, hence snow for the northern mountains first, then spread into the central and southern mountains second.

Monday night could be one of the coldest nights so far across the high country, with forecast lows nearing 0 in some locales.

A return to snowy weather is possible on Tuesday night into Wednesday as a weak wave of storm energy passes through Colorado, favoring the northern mountains with between 1-3 inches possible, mostly in the Park and Medicine Bow ranges near the Wyoming state line. Some spill over snowfall into the central mountains is possible as well.

Long-term forecast:

Flurries are possible Thursday and Friday, again, mostly in the northern mountains as another wave of energy passes across northern Colorado.

A calmer first weekend of December (Saturday, Dec. 6 and Sunday, Dec. 7) is possible according to current weather models, but a better chance of snow is forecast to arrive Tuesday, Dec. 9.

More model runs will need rendering to hone in better details this far out, but December’s weather is appearing to be a lot more active than November’s.

Colorado ski resorts’ planned opening dates and 24-hour totals:

Arapahoe Basin – 0″

Aspen Highlands – Dec. 13

Aspen Mountain – 0″

Beaver Creek – Nov. 30

Breckenridge – 0″

Buttermilk – Dec. 13

Cooper – Dec. 10

Copper Mountain – 0″

Crested Butte – 0″

Echo Mountain – Dec. 12

Eldora Mountain – 0″

Granby Ranch – 0″

Hesperus – Closed for the season

Howelsen Hill – Nov. 29

Kendall Mountain – December

Keystone – 0″

Loveland – 0″

Monarch – Delayed, ASAP

Powderhorn – Delayed, ASAP

Purgatory – 0″

Silverton – Private mountain after Dec. 1, Guided and Heli season Dec. 27

Snowmass – 0″

Steamboat – 0″

Sunlight – Dec. 12

Telluride – 0″

Vail – 0″

Winter Park – 0″

Wolf Creek – 0″