After a quick hiatus of calmer weather, another storm is about to move in bringing a blast of arctic air and some impactful snow to the state.
Winter weather alerts are already posted for much of the high country. We also have winter storm watches posted for the far Northeast Plains. This is going to be a potent and a widespread snowstorm. The other aspect of this storm is that it will come with some very cold air. We’re looking at sub-zero temperatures with Windchill values well below zero.
Our storm is currently over the northern Rockies and will be diving south and then east across our area between now and Friday. We will begin to feel impacts in Colorado as early as Tuesday evening as clouds and snow move in to NW Colorado. Snow will overspread the mountains overnight through Wednesday morning and continue through the day.
For the I-25 corridor, snow will begin earlier in the day Wednesday around Ft. Collins. Snow will begin in Denver just before noon with some heavy, banded snow possible. Colorado Springs and Pueblo will see snow begin in the early afternoon hours. Some of the initial snow will be heavy at times with 1-4″ of snow expected by Wednesday night for the Urban Corridor. Light snow will continue overnight into Thursday morning. Upslope winds will allow for light snow to fall throughout much of the day on Thursday so expect a cold and snow day. This storm begins to move out Thursday evening but a few snow showers may linger into the overnight hours.
The other big story with this storm is going to be the cold. You’ll know when the front comes through because there will be a decent bout of wind followed by a big drop in temperatures. Although temperatures may not reach above freezing Wednesday, the cold front will drop temperatures into the teens by the evening commute and with snow likely, the evening commute Wednesday is likely to be impacted.
In total, the storm will deliver some healthy snow totals for much of the state with up to a foot of snow possible in the mountains with tough driving conditions starting north of I-70 by Wednesday morning.
Much of the state will see snow from this storm. The northern mountains will see the most with more than a foot of snow possible by Thursday afternoon. The Central and Southern mountains will see up to a foot of snow from this storm so overall – a nice drink of water for our mountains.
From FoCo to Denver, 4-6″ of snow is likely with slightly higher totals in the foothills to the west of town. Colorado Springs should end up in the 3-5″ range with similar totals in Pueblo and Trinidad.
Once this storm moves out Thursday night, we’ll be left with some residual cold on Friday but it will turn much sunnier so we should begin to see some solid melting happen Friday. This weekend looks absolutely gorgeous with highs in the 50s and low 60s with plenty of sunshine to go around. A nice reward after this midweek winter blast.
There could another round or two of snow in the 10-day forecast but we’ll focus on this midweek storm for now. Enjoy!
~Andy
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