Nice weather to continue through Friday; big changes on the way early next week

Most of Colorado is experiencing beautiful weather today, with temperatures currently in the upper 60's in the Denver metro area under sunny skies.  The ridge of high pressure responsible for the milder weather will begin to break down tomorrow, leading to stronger westerly winds, especially for the Front Range.  Sunny skies and warm temperatures will continue, though, with highs expected to be even warmer than today, topping out in the low 70's for Denver.  

In the mountains, high temperatures should reach 50 degrees as high as 9,000 feet, with afternoon heating along with some instability in the atmosphere creating convective clouds and isolated rain/snow showers and thunderstorms.

Unsettled weather returns this weekend

Warm and sunny weather on Friday will gradually give way to clouds and precipitation chances this weekend as a couple of weak disturbances move through.  Snow showers will be possible for the northern and central mountains Friday night, but accumulations will likely be random and on the lighter side.  Clouds increase statewide on Saturday ahead of the next disturbance, with high temperatures about 5-10 degrees cooler than Friday's highs.  The mountains will see a round of snow Saturday night into Sunday morning, with light to moderate accumulations possible, favoring the northern and central ranges.  Snow showers will be possible throughout the day Sunday as well.  

As the disturbance moves through on Saturday night, rain showers and perhaps a few rumbles of thunder will be possible for Denver and northeast Colorado, but precipitation amounts should be on the lighter side.  Highs in Denver on Saturday and Sunday are expected to reach the 60's, but skies will stay mostly cloudy.

Major spring storm possible for the Front Range early next week

By early next week, a strong low pressure system will move inland from the Pacific toward the Four Corners region, setting up what could potentially be a major spring snowstorm for the Front Range, likely favoring the foothills and areas east of the Continental Divide the most, as well as the Southern San Juans initially.  Much colder air is expected to arrive with this system as well, so accumulating snowfall in the Denver metro area will be a possibility as well.  Borderline temperatures and a high sun angle are typically more of an issue for April snowfall accumulations in Denver, so this will likely be a tricky forecast for the Mile High City until a day or two before the event.  Confidence in significant snowfall for the foothills and mountains west of Denver is much higher, though.  

Nevertheless, this storm is still five days away, and variations in the exact storm track from what the models are showing are almost inevitable.  Additionally, there is still uncertainty regarding how long the low pressure system will hang out over Colorado.  A one-day storm versus a two-day storm will make a huge difference in snowfall and precipitation amounts.