A string and wet Pacific storm will slam into the West Coast today and tonight and make it's way into CO Saturday. For today, a few lingering snow showers over the mountains, with an outside chance for a brief flurry over the foothills this afternoon, before things dry out ahead of the next system. Winds will continue to be gusty at times today and into tonight.
For the Mountains:
Snow will begin Saturday morning west of Vail Pass, with the snow level near 6000 ft near the UT/CO border and 8000 ft near Vail Pass. Snow will move east during the day to a line along the Front Range crest or from Longs Peak to Mt. Evans to Kenosha Pass by Saturday evening. Snow becomes heavy by Saturday afternoon into Sunday morning. Strong westerly winds of 30-50 mph will accompany snow creating near blizzard conditions. NWS has issued a Winter Storm Warning for much of the southwest, central and northern mountains from Noon Saturday until Noon Sunday. Expect 8-18 inches of snow in the mountains, with up to 2 feet along favored west facing slopes. Expect delays and road closures from late Saturday afternoon into early Sunday monring. Snow will ease up Sunday, but strong westerly winds will continue to create tough travel conditions with blowing and drifting snow through the day. Most additional accumulation will be north of I-70 on Sunday, with maybe another 3-6 inches.
For the Foothills:
Strong west to southwest winds of 25-50 mph with gusts to 60 mph will increase during the day on Saturday ahead of next Pacific system. Western foothill areas may see some light blow off snow Saturday afternoon, but little if any accumulation expected. Temps will remain mild until cold front passes late Saturday afternoon/eveing. Foothills could see some flurries or light snow as front passes into Saturday night, but any accumulation is expected to be light, maybe a dusting to an inch or so. Strong westerly winds will continue Saturday night into Sunday with speeds of 30-60 mph possible in a Bora wind event. Sunday will be blustry but no snow expected east of the Divide. Expect more strong westerly winds Sunday night.
The next Pacific system will be close behind. This system should begin to bring snow west of Vail Pass Monday afternoon, and spread east Monday night into Tuesday. Models still a little uncertain with this system, but right now it looks to have the best chance to bring accumulating snow to the foothills. GFS creates some upslope flow Monday night into Tuesday which would bring 1-3 inches of snow to the foothills. Models split this system into a northern and southern branch and dig the southern branch into NM. Anytime a system splits, we could end up seeing little if any snow depoending on where the majority of energy goes. So will have to wait and see how future model runs handle this system.
The remainder of next week looks dry and mild across CO except for a chance for light snow in the northern mountains. The next system forecast to affect CO would be next Friday night into Saturday.
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"Climatology is what you expect, Weather is what you get".
"It is better to be roughly right than precisely wrong".
Too bad future generations aren't here to see all the great things we are spending their $$ on!!
