DENVER – Snow is expected to return to the Denver metro area starting in the overnight hours through tomorrow with heavier amounts possible in portions of Douglas and Elbert Counties where a winter storm watch will go into effect for the Palmer Divide.
Snow is first expected to develop in the mountains in the overnight hours into Thursday morning before bringing a chance of snow across the Front Range.
"We do not have any sort of winter weather advisory for the Denver metro but as we go through our day we'll see that light snow for the afternoon and evening hours," said Denver7 meteorologist Stacey Donaldson
“You might actually see some wet roads, but I don’t think it’s going to be enough early Thursday morning to make things slick but it could get a little wet out there,” added Denver7 chief meteorologist Lisa Hidalgo. “That next round with a few bands of snow could likely leave us with our heaviest accumulation of the system.”
The National Weather Service (NWS) in Boulder wrote on social media that the "heaviest snow and largest impacts will be in the mountains, southern foothills and Palmer Divide."
The winter storm watch goes into effect Thursday morning at 11 a.m. for Elbert and Central/East Douglas Counties where heavy snow and wind gusts up to 40 mph are possible.
A winter weather advisory also goes into effect for the southern Foothills.
Denver7’s Futurecast shows some light snow could develop across Denver in the early afternoon hours on Thursday before more bands roll through in the evening hours and into early Friday morning.
“It’s going to then taper off from north to south but we’ll see some light snow early Friday morning with the heavier snow down south closer to spots like Black Forest, Colorado Springs and down near Pueblo,” added Higaldo “Right now, snowfall totals look to be pretty light over the Northeastern Plains and closer to Denver we’re at about 2 to 4 inches.”
She said the Palmer Divide will be on the edge of the heavier snow.
“At this point, it looks like around 3 to 6 inches but maybe upwards of 8 inches farther south if you get some of those heavier totals.”
The National Weather Service (NWS) in Grand Junction issued a winter weather advisory starting at 5 p.m. Wednesday for portions of the High Country across the far northwestern and western mountains in Colorado.
Between 3 to 12 inches of snow is possible in these areas.
A winter storm watch has been issued for heavy snow in northern El Paso County and a few areas farther south where hazardous travel conditions are expected.
Hidalgo said it was likely winter weather alerts could be issued closer to the Denver metro area. This story will be updated if that happens.
“Some travel impacts are likely from Thursday evening into Friday morning, especially across the Foothills and Palmer Divide. Confidence in snowfall totals remains low at this time,” added NWS forecasters in Boulder.
Expected to high-end snow totals across Colorado
The below potential snow totals from the NWS present a wide range between what is expected and possible high-end accumulations.
- Allenspark: 7” to 9”
- Arvada: 3” to 8”
- Aurora: 4” to 11”
- Berthoud Pass: 11” to 15”
- Black Hawk: 6” to 9”
- Boulder: 2” to 8”
- Brighton: 2” to 7”
- Broomfield: 3” to 8”
- Castle Rock: 7” to 11”
- Centennial: 4" to 8”
- Commerce City: 2” to 6”
- Denver: 3” to 6”
- DIA: 2” to 6”
- Eldora: 8” to 12”
- Fort Collins: 1” to 3”
- Fort Morgan: 1” to 3”
- Floyd Hill: 6” to 12”
- Golden: 5” to 10”
- Highlands Ranch: 4” to 9”
- Idaho Springs: 6” to 9”
- Lafayette: 2” to 6”
- Lakewood: 4” to 9”
- Limon: 3” to 6”
- Littleton: 4” to 8”
- Loveland Pass: 8” to 12”
- Longmont: 2” to 5”
- Nederland: 7” to 9”
- Northglenn: 2” to 5”
- Parker: 5” to 11”
- Rabbit Ears Pass: 7” to 10”
- Superior: 3” to 7”
A Denver7 Weather Action Day goes into effect for both Thursday and Friday.
After Wednesday’s sunny skies and high temp of 58 degrees in Denver, the city will reach its high temp Thursday of around 39 degrees in the overnight hours before temps drop during the day.
Friday will eventually bring clearing skies in Denver and a high of 35 degrees before temps begin to rebound into the low 50s through the weekend.
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