Next disturbance embedded in northwest flow aloft will bring an additional 2-6 inches of snow to the mountains west of the Divide today into Tuesday morning. Heaviest snow will be north of I-70, with 1-4 inches possible south of I-70. Snow may make it east to about the Front Range Crest, but no accumulation expected east of there, so there should not be any impact in the foothills. Strong northwest winds will accompany the snow in the mountains, so driving may be difficult at time today and tonight. Snow should abate Tuesday, with only some lingering flurries north of I-70.
Potential for a High Wind event in the foothills Tuesday night, as strong northwest flow aloft will combine with a good surface gradient and stable layer above mountain top level. Currently looks like west to northwest winds of 25-50 mph a good bet, with gusts to about 60 mph possible. Strongest winds will be north of I-70. Winds just below High Wind Warning criteria, so NWS may not issue any advisories on this event. Winds will be strongest from 10 pm Tuesday night through 6 am Wednesday morning. Hard to tell if limited snow cover will aid in any blowing snow across roads, but that may be possible in areas where higher snow amounts fell this past weekend.
Flow aloft turns west to southwest on Wednesday, so dry conditions expected across the state and warming temps, at or above seasonal norms. Some gusty southwest winds possible Wednesday night as well. Thursday should also remain dry with temps at or above seasonal norms across the state.
Next system for CO will move from CA into the Great Basin on Thursday, then across CO on Friday. Models currently keep nearly all snow west of the Divide, and mostly south of I-70, so southwest mountains should receive the brunt of this system. Models currently take a pretty deep upper low and then move it across CO as an open upper trough, so no good upslope flow is currently predicted, hence snowfall for the foothills and Plains would be little if any at this point. However, if this system remains stronger as an upper low as it moves to the south of CO, it could produce heavier snowfall for the foothills and Plains, will have to wait and see how models continue to handle this.
Models then keep a few mountains flurries going on Saturday, but dry for the remainder of the state with some breezy westerly winds. Sunday currently looks dry and warmer with less wind. Models then keep CO dry early next week, with next system on track for next Thursday, then again next weekend. Timing that far out not very reliable, but the trend is to keep the storm track moving through CO through Christmas week.
_________________
"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!!
