Scattered flurries falling across Colorado on Tuesday morning will turn into heavy snow in the afternoon and evening, according to the National Weather Service.
The most snow will fall in Colorado’s mountains and foothills, but the Denver area can still expect to see multiple inches accumulate overnight, NWS forecasters said.
Downtown Denver and the Denver International Airport are forecast to see 3 to 6 inches of snowfall between 5 a.m. Tuesday and 5 p.m. Wednesday. Other Tuesday morning snow forecasts include:
- 2 to 6 inches in Arvada, Aurora, Broomfield, Centennial, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood, Northglenn and Parker
- 3 to 7 inches in Brighton and Lakewood
- 4 to 8 inches in the Foothills, including Golden, Evergreen and Conifer
- 4 to 10 inches in the Elk Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains in western Colorado, including Chair Mountain
- 6 to 10 inches in Rocky Mountain National Park, including at Bear Lake and along Trail Ridge Road
- 2 to 13 inches in southern Colorado’s San Juan Mountains, including Cumbres Pass, La Manga Pass and Wolf Creek Pass
- 1 to 11 inches in southern Colorado’s Sangre de Cristo Mountains, including Culebra Peak and Cordova Pass
Popular ski areas, including Vail, Loveland, Winter Park, Copper Mountain and Keystone can also expect to see between 2 and 7 inches of fresh snow stack up by Wednesday night.
NWS forecasters said the snow will pick up around 5 p.m. Tuesday and continue through about 11 a.m. Wednesday.
A Winter Weather Advisory will be in effect from 2 p.m. Tuesday to 11 a.m. Wednesday for most of northern and central Colorado, including Larimer, Weld, Jefferson, Broomfield, Douglas, Adams, Arapahoe, Elbert, Morgan, Lincoln, Logan, Washington, Sedgwick and Phillips counties.
“Plan on slippery road conditions,” forecasters said in the advisory. “The hazardous conditions will impact the Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning commutes.”
Temperatures in Denver will drop down into the single digits overnight, but it could feel as cold as 10 degrees below zero with windchill, forecasters said.
Single-digit lows will return overnight Wednesday into Thursday as Denver sees at least two days of consecutive, below-freezing temperatures. It’s still up in the air as to whether the city will break that streak Thursday afternoon or if the arctic cold will continue through Friday morning.
Temperatures in the Eastern Plains and Foothills will also drop close to zero Tuesday night, NWS forecasters said in a Hazardous Weather Outlook. With windchill, it will feel as cold as minus 15 and frostbite will occur in as little as 30 minutes.
Forecasters said those areas will see temperature highs in the teens Wednesday and below-zero lows overnight into Thursday.
Another round of light snow is expected to hit the Foothills and Denver area on Friday, forecasters said.
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