Spring-like warmth continues for all of Colorado

Significantly warmer temperatures arrived in northeastern Colorado on Wednesday, with highs topping 60 in most of the Front Range cities, which was 20-30 degrees warmer than the day before.  Sunny skies and above average temperatures continued in the mountains, with highs in the valley towns ranging from the mid 40's to low 50's.  Spring weather continues statewide through the end of the week, with more unsettled (but still fairly mild) weather on tap for the weekend.


Denver, Front Range, and Eastern Plains

The warm-up for northeastern Colorado continues on Thursday, with highs along the I-25 corridor pushing 70 degrees (mid 60's near the base of the foothills for areas such as Boulder and Golden) under sunny skies.  Low temperatures Thursday night will be mild once again, ranging from the mid 30's (eastern plains) to low 40's (Boulder/Golden).  Mild temperatures will reach the Front Range foothills and mountains as well, with highs near 8,000 ft. ranging from the mid 50's to low 60's, and highs along the Continental Divide near treeline reaching the mid 30's with increasing winds in the afternoon.  Even warmer temperatures are in store for the region on Friday, with relatively cooler air arriving on Saturday.


Mountains

Spring skiing will be the rule once again, with unseasonably warm air pushing high temperatures into the upper 40's to mid 50's for many of the ski resort towns.  For the higher elevations, highs will reach the mid 30's (north) to low 40's (south) with increasing winds for the afternoon hours (more noticeable farther east and near the Continental Divide).  Warm temperatures persist into Friday, before clouds and some snow showers arrive on Saturday.


Medium to Long Range

The ridge of high pressure affecting Colorado will begin to break down later Friday, and a weak system will affect the area on Saturday, bringing some clouds, slightly cooler temperatures and a chance of snow showers for the mountains, and even some rain showers possible for Denver metro and the eastern plains.  The system is looking weaker now than it did a day ago in terms of mountain snowfall.  On Sunday night, a more substantial storm could affect the mountains, but there is a lot of uncertainty for now, as the American GFS model keeps the storm north of Colorado, while the European model (which is often more accurate) shows a more favorable storm track for snow in the northern and central mountains.