Arctic air is expected to arrive Thursday night across Colorado and persist through the weekend, bringing freezing temperatures and snow to the state, according to the National Weather Service.
A cold weather advisory will be in effect for part of the Eastern Plains from 3 a.m. Friday to 9 a.m. Sunday, according to the weather service. Windchills as low as 20 degrees below zero are expected, which can cause frostbite on exposed skin in less than 30 minutes, forecasters said in the advisory.
The advisory will cover the northeast and central plains, including parts of Weld, Morgan, Adams, Arapahoe, Elbert, Lincoln, Washington, Sedgwick and Phillips counties.
As of Thursday morning, windchill forecasts from the weather service included lows of:
- Boulder: 2 degrees below zero on Friday, zero degrees on Saturday and 8 degrees below zero on Sunday
- Breckenridge: 3 degrees on Friday, 12 degrees below zero on Saturday and 17 degrees below zero on Sunday
- Castle Rock: Zero degrees on Friday, 6 degrees below zero on Saturday and 10 degrees below zero on Sunday
- Denver: Zero degrees on Friday, 3 degrees below zero on Saturday and 4 degrees below zero on Sunday
- Estes Park: 1 degree below zero on Friday, 6 degrees below zero on Saturday and 14 degrees below zero on Sunday
- Evergreen: 1 degree on Friday, 2 degrees below zero on Saturday and 13 degrees below zero on Sunday
- Fort Collins: 10 degrees below zero on Friday, 8 degrees below zero on Saturday and 15 degrees below zero on Sunday
- Julesburg: 19 degrees below zero on Friday, 19 degrees below zero on Saturday and 14 degrees below zero on Sunday
- Limon: 17 degrees below zero on Friday, 18 degrees below zero on Saturday and 17 degrees below zero on Sunday
A winter weather advisory will be in effect for the Interstate 70 mountain corridor and Summit County from 5 a.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Sunday, when snow is forecast for the area, according to the weather service.
Between 6 inches and a foot of snowfall is expected, making travel “very difficult to impossible,” forecasters said in the advisory.
Other Thursday morning snow forecasts from the weather service include up to:
- 2 inches in Fort Morgan and Sterling
- 3 inches in Aurora, Brighton, Broomfield, Centennial, Commerce City, Denver, Estes Park, Littleton and at Denver International Airport
- 4 inches in Arvada, Castle Rock, Franktown, Fort Collins, Golden, Highlands Ranch, Lafayette, Lakewood, Loveland and Parker
- 5 inches in Boulder, Georgetown and Larkspur
- 7 inches in Eldora and Breckenridge, and on U.S. 40’s Muddy Pass near Kremmling and Colorado 125’s Willow Creek Pass near Granby
- 8 inches on U.S. 40’s Rabbit Ears Pass near Steamboat Springs, Colorado 14’s Cameron Pass near Fort Collins and U.S. 34’s Milner Pass in Rocky Mountain National Park
- 9 inches at the Keystone Ski Area Summit
- 10 inches at Winter Park and on Colorado 9’s Hoosier Pass near Breckenridge
- 11 inches on Interstate 70’s Vail Pass
- 12 inches on U.S. 40’s Berthoud Pass near Winter Park
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