More than 60 inches of snow could fall in Colorado's upcoming snowstorm

The National Weather Service has released its snowfall forecast for a storm expected to hit Colorado this weekend — and it looks like it's going to be a doozy.

To illustrate, note that the National Weather Service publishes three key maps related to potential snowfall: an “expected snowfall” map (80% chance), a maximum snowfall map (10% chance), and a “low-end snowfall” map -Quantity” card (10% chance). This article takes a look at all three, and it should also be noted that the current maps only take into account the time from 6:00 p.m. on Thursday to 6:00 a.m. on Sunday and this storm is expected to last through the rest of Sunday and possibly will last until Monday. Updated maps showing a more complete picture of this full storm should be released Friday.

In the “most likely” scenario, as shown on the expected snowfall map, up to 4 feet of snow will fall in the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado, with even more snowfall in some select areas. Meanwhile, the central mountains and those in the Aspen area will max out in the 12 to 18 inch range, although most peaks outside the southwest region are expected to reach between 3 and 6 inches.

The High End Amount card is where things get really interesting.

In this scenario, a greater number of peaks in the Central Mountains and Aspen area are in that 12-plus-inch range, while much more snow falls in the Southwest.

This high-end map shows that a larger portion of the San Juans will see between 48 and 60 inches of snowfall, with even more possible on a few select peaks (shown as very small dots of darker purple on the map below). .

It's also worth noting that this high-end scenario shows more than half of the state experiencing severe weather, including the Front Range. While this likely won't be enough snow to cause accumulation in places like Denver and Colorado Springs, there could be slippery conditions on the roads.

As for the low-level snow forecast, some peaks in the Southwest are still likely to see more than 24 inches of snow. In this scenario, totals drop significantly in the Central Mountain region, with most peaks in this area falling between 15 and 20 cm.

OpenSnow's Joel Gratz expects Purgatory and Silverton to reach about 25 inches during the storm, while Wolf Creek expects 24 inches. He also mentions that the next chance for more snow will be October 26-31 (see the full OpenSnow breakdown here).

This impending snowstorm is good news for the state's slope sports enthusiasts, as many are hoping for an October opening. While Central Mountain towns like Arapahoe Basin, Loveland and Keystone are often the first to get the lifts running, this snowstorm this year could allow an earlier opening for those in the southwestern part of the state. Wolf Creek could be a good candidate as they have been known to open early when there is good snow in the past.