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3-day snow totals for the back to back storms

Jan 26, 2026, 12:36 PM

01/26/26 12:30pm: Here is a look at some official 72hr snow totals from the ski areas and from town CoCoRaHS reports. It was an interesting couple of storms. Many locations did get into the forecast range (from my Thu map) but as is the case with all these complex storm systems (and two waves), there were some busts and booms in spots.

First good to see a wide-swath of 10-20" for the western ski areas as expected with closer to 5-10" for the Summit and Grand ski areas (but still within my forecast range).

Also good to see generally 1-4" across Denver/Boulder between the two waves, which was expected. This time around DIA, picked up more than Denver proper (reporting 3.5" in the last 3 days). At my house in Westminster, I estimate 1.8" total.

The most obvious bust was in the foothills, where I was expecting at least 3-8" total and they only got 1-4"...it was just weak upslope, weak jet-dynamics and strange wind-flow (models didn't handle that well).

Given the complexity in the forecast on Thu, for two big waves, I'm pretty pleased with the forecast and it wasn't a bust in most areas.

Below I show 72hr totals for the ski areas (image 1) and towns from CoCoRaHS (image 2). Along with 72hr observed snowfall from NOHRSC (its interpolated analysis so can be off in spots). Image 4 and 5 show 72hr CoCoRaHS reports for Den/Bou and northern front-range and rest of CO.

Pretty good snow storm!

About Seth

About Seth

About Seth

Seth Linden combines professional expertise with a lifelong passion for weather forecasting.

A Colorado native and avid skier, Seth turned his early fascination with weather into a career, earning degrees in Physics and Atmospheric Science from CU Boulder. For over 25 years, he has worked at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), where he develops winter weather decision support systems for Denver International Airport and state transportation departments.

He shares his forecasting expertise through the Seth's Weather Report Facebook group, specializing in winter storm predictions.


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