Radar image showing light snow over Northern Colorado on Monday night
A weak system moved through northern Colorado this afternoon, and light snow has been falling across the Front Range metro area all evening. Earlier in the day, it looked like the metro region would stay mostly dry with the bulk of the precipitation farther to the northeast, but the cold front dropped farther south than the models indicated, and a surprise snowfall spread into the metro area, with light accumulations occurring. The heaviest of the snow is falling in Ft. Collins and Greeley, with a few inches possible there by daybreak, with lighter accumulations farther south into Denver. It seems like a few times every winter, small snowstorms like this catch Front Range forecasters by surprise. This is something I actually want to research when I have more time this summer.
Denver, Front Range, and Eastern Plains
Most of northeastern Colorado will wake up to overcast skies and a little bit of snow on the ground Tuesday morning, but skies will gradually begin to clear out during the day, with temperatures rising into the mid to upper 40's across the urban corridor. Northwest winds will be predominant, drying out the air east of the mountains, but keeping clouds and snow showers present over the high peaks near the Continental Divide through the early part of the day. Big changes are coming on Wednesday, though, as a ridge of high pressure moves into Colorado, bringing sunny skies and the warmest temperatures of the year thus far, with highs reaching the 60's in Denver on Wednesday, and rising to 70 by Friday.
Northern/Central Mountains
A moist, northwest flow brought light snow to the northern mountains on Monday, from Steamboat to Vail/Summit to the northern Front Range. Snow showers should continue through Tuesday morning for most areas, with light totals expected... just enough to freshen up the slopes. Relatively higher snow amounts are expected in Steamboat and the Park Range, as they usually benefit the most from northwest flow type systems. Most of the snow will end by Tuesday afternoon, as high temperatures reach the 30's for most of the valley towns (20's above 11,000 feet). Clearing skies and substantially milder temperatures are in store for Wednesday through the end of the week.
Southern/Western Mountains
The mountain regions south of I-70 have remained dry for the most part, as the system moving through Colorado remained well to the north. Mostly sunny skies and warmer temperatures will be predominant throughout the area on Tuesday, with the March "heat wave" expected to arrive on Wednesday, bringing sunny, spring skiing conditions to the region.
Medium to Long Range
A ridge of high pressure moving into Colorado on Wednesday is going to bring spring-like weather for the next four days, with temperatures possibly topping 70 for the first time this year in Denver on Friday. Warm temperatures are going to affect the mountains, too, with valley temperatures likely reaching 50 by the end of the week. Spring skiing will be in full force heading into the weekend. However, the "heat wave" is not going to last as long as it appeared it would a few days ago. It now looks like winter weather will return to Colorado by Sunday, with more storms possible the following week (looking very long range).
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