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Change may be in store for high country weather |
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Friday, January 13, 2012 13:55 |
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Photo by Dominique Taylor, Vail Daily
By LAUREN GLENDENNING, VAIL DAILY
The snow news the Colorado High Country has been waiting for is finally here — sort of.
The storm track pattern for storms heading into the United States from the Pacific Ocean appears to be shifting south, which is great news for northern ski resorts in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming and Montana — and possibly good news for ski resorts in the northern part of Colorado.
The storm track has been following a path this winter that has sent Pacific storms entering North America through British Columbia and Alberta before turning south in Saskatchewan and down through North Dakota and Minnesota, and then following an eastern path across the Midwest and the East. But as of Jan. 16, the path appears to be changing. The new track shows storms entering around Oregon and continuing east and slightly south — the results for Colorado, however, will depend on each individual storm, said Joel Gratz, a meteorologist who runs the powder forecast website www.opensnow.com.
“The overall weather pattern for the western United States is definitely changing next week compared to what they were over the last two months,” Gratz said. “Unfortunately, weather patterns don't detail powder days.”
But a change in the weather pattern means “slightly more favorable” conditions for better snow in Colorado, Gratz said, and even slightly better is music to the ears of many local skiers and snowboarders.
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