EAGLE COUNTY, Colorado — The Central Rockies are under a winter weather advisory, with areas above 9,000 feet possibly getting 3 to 6 inches of snow by Friday morning.

One to 2 inches may fall between 7,000 and 9,000 feet, according to the National Weather Service.

The advisory is in effect from 6 a.m. today until 6 a.m. Friday.

It's the beginning of what could be another good snow year, says Paul Pastelok, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather.

“It could be close to 400 inches and much of it could come in the middle and latter parts of the season,” Pastelok said.

Vail Mountain enjoyed record snowfall last season, 511 inches. That eclipsed the old record, 505 inches in the 1977-78 season.

The snow stars aligned in two ways for the Vail Valley last year.

In December, a stream of moisture rolled through the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California, and much of it made its way all the way to Colorado. That helped create conditions for a record snow year, Pastelok said.

In December, an upper atmosphere trough started in the Upper Midwest Great Lakes region. It made its way through Colorado and stayed here through most of the spring.

Storms and cold air followed that trough to the Central Rockies, bringing all sorts of winter wonderfulness with them.

That trough could build again around February, but it probably won't be as extreme as last year, Pastelok said.