After a night of frigid temperatures reaching single digits around Denver and below zero in the mountains, snow is set to return across the state Wednesday night, according to the National Weather Service.
Overnight temperatures in metro Denver hit 8 degrees early Wednesday morning, but the wind chill made it feel like 9 degrees below zero, according to NWS forecasters.
That’s more than 10 degrees below the average minimum temperature for Denver in January, 18.7 degrees, according to NWS data.
Windy conditions will continue to chill the city on Wednesday. Denver is forecast to see temperature highs near 41 degrees, but the wind chill will make it feel as cold as 2 degrees below zero.
Up in Colorado’s mountains, especially above 10,000 feet of elevation, temperatures will feel as low as 15 degrees below zero with wind chill, NWS forecasters said.
Between Wednesday night, when the snow is expected to start, and Friday morning, NWS forecasters expect:
- Between 2 and 6 inches of snow in downtown Denver, Arvada, Aurora, Brighton, Broomfield, Centennial, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood, Littleton, Northglenn, Parker and at Denver International Airport;
- 4 inches of snow in Fort Collins, Loveland, Berthoud and Evergreen;
- 1 to 2 inches of snow on Copper Mountain, Vail Pass and Breckenridge Peak Eight;
- 2 to 3 inches of snow at the Eisenhower Tunnels;
- 4 to 8 inches of snow in southern Colorado’s Sangre de Cristo Range of the Rocky Mountains, including Bushnell Peak, Culebra Peak and North La Veta Pass;
- 3 to 4 inches of snow on Floyd Hill;
- 2 to 4 inches in Fort Morgan, Brush and Byers.
“Light snow is expected for most areas Tuesday with strong northwesterly winds over the plains in the afternoon,” NWS forecasters said in a Hazardous Weather Outlook.
The next wave of snow is expected over the mountains Saturday and Sunday, with a chance over the northern plains on Saturday and over metro Denver on Sunday, according to the outlook.
Chilly, below-normal temperatures are forecast to continue across the state into next week, forecasters said.
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