Nearly a foot of fresh snow coats Vail as Beaver Creek reports 8 inches

Nearly a foot of fresh snow fell on Vail Mountain overnight Monday into Tuesday morning, with eight inches of new snow at Beaver Creek.

Forecasters called for more snow throughout the day on Tuesday, with a brief three-day dry spell, followed by more snow over the weekend and another storm for the middle of next week.

That’s all very good news for Vail Valley resorts starved for moisture in one of the worst drought seasons in recent memory.

Here’s the forecast from Opensnow.com meteorologist Joel Gratz on Tuesday morning:

“Today, Tuesday, is a good day to get out and ski powder at most mountains in Colorado. There is fresh snow on the ground and we should see more today, from snow showers in the northern and central mountains to steadier snow in the morning in the southern mountains,” Gratz wrote Tuesday. “Our next chance for snow will be this weekend and again during the early or middle part of next week.”

For Vail, the 11 inches of new snow reported Tuesday morning brings the seasonal total to 100 inches. In an average season, Vail sees 350 inches by closing day in April.

More snow is on the way for the weekend as a storm breaks off from the northern track we’ve seen all season — the track that’s been keeping  snowfall well to the north and largely leaving Colorado high and dry.

“What this means for Colorado is the chance for snow on Saturday or Sunday as the storm breaks off, and then potentially a chance for snow during the middle of next week (Tuesday-Wednesday, February 13-14) as the storm moves east and rejoins the main storm track,” Gratz wrote Tuesday.

More snow throughout February will be critical in keeping what base we have and extending the ski season into March and hopefully finishing strong for the Easter holiday (April 1) and closing day at both Vail and Beaver Creek on April 15.