Heavy snow will hit Colorado’s mountains Monday afternoon and move into lower elevations, including metro Denver, overnight, according to the National Weather Service.
Snow showers are forecast to start in the mountains between noon and 2 p.m. Monday before arriving in Denver after 10 p.m., NWS forecasters said.
Most of Colorado’s mountains and the Palmer Divide south of Denver will be under Winter Storm Warnings and Winter Weather Advisories from 11 a.m. Monday to 5 p.m. Tuesday. The Eastern Plains will also be under a Blizzard Warning from 11 p.m. Monday to 5 p.m. Tuesday.
NWS forecasters said that the Eastern Plains will see strong winds between 50 and 70 mph on Tuesday. Any spot that gets 1 to 2 inches of snow “could produce blizzard conditions,” forecasters said.
The snowfall forecast across Colorado is “highly uncertain,” according to NWS forecasters. The track and intensity of the storm could change at any time.
“The worst conditions are expected to be south of Denver over the Palmer Divide and also east of Denver on I-70,” forecasters said in a Hazardous Weather Outlook. “Travel in these areas may become very difficult to impossible due to the blowing and drifting snow.”
Monday morning snow forecasts include:
- Between 0 and 7 inches of snow on most of the Eastern Plains, including Akron, Julesburg, Holyoke and Byers. Limon, also on the plains, could see between 2 and 12 inches.
- Between 0 and 3 inches in downtown Denver, Arvada, Brighton, Broomfield, Lakewood and at Denver International Airport
- Between 0 and 7 inches of snow in Aurora, Centennial, Golden and Highlands Ranch
- Between a dusting and 13 inches of snow in Parker, Castle Rock and Franktown
- Between 9 and 18 inches on U.S. 40’s Berthoud Pass, at the Eisenhower-Johnson Tunnels and along U.S. 6’s Loveland Pass
- Between 2 and 18 inches in the Palmer Divide, including Kiowa, Elbert, Larkspur and Elizabeth
- Between 11 and 28 inches in northern Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, including Cameron Pass, Rollins Pass, Milner Pass, Trail Ridge Road and Iceberg Pass
- Between 5 and 18 inches in northern Colorado’s Park Range Mountains, including Mount Zirkel, Mount Werner and Buffalo Pass
- Between 5 and 13 inches on Copper Mountain, Vail Pass and the Keystone Ski Area
Winds up to 60 mph blowing over mountain passes are expected to cause blowing snow and white-out conditions, according to the Hazardous Weather Outlook.
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