Denver Weather: Spring-Like Tuesday Before An Extended Blast Of Cold And Snow
DENVER (CBS4) - Sunny skies and a light westerly breeze descending the east side of the mountains will allow temperatures to soar well into the 60s on Tuesday. It's the warm before a strong storm that arrives Wednesday night.
Tuesday will be far from the warmest Groundhog Day on record in the Denver (the record is 74 degrees from 2020) but temperatures will still be at least 20 degrees above normal for early February. It will be cooler across the western half of the state but still at least slightly above normal in many areas.
A storm on the West Coast Tuesday morning will gradually move east toward Colorado on Wednesday. Snow will develop in the mountains in the morning and spread across all mountain areas by Wednesday afternoon. Winter Weather Advisories go into effect for the mountains starting at 6 a.m. Wednesday and continue through 9 a.m. Thursday.
Most ski areas in Colorado will get at least 6 inches of snow Wednesday and Thursday and some will get considerably more. If you're planning travel into the mountains either day, keep in mind winter driving conditions are likely including along I-70 between Georgetown and Avon. Significant delays are possible.
For Denver and the Front Range, light rain is possible starting late Wednesday. Then as temperatures quickly get colder Wednesday evening, any rain will change into snow. The snow will not be widespread. It will be "banded" -- meaning long, narrow areas of snow. Wherever these snow bands develop, there will be at least 1-2 inches of snow. It's likely there will be a snow band somewhere in the Denver metro area Thursday morning. The most likely location is along the Palmer Divide in Douglas and Elbert Counties but bands are possible anywhere. Where a band does not setup, no accumulating snow is expected.
Regardless of snow in the metro area, it will be 20 to 30 degrees colder on Thursday.
And another cold front on the way for late Friday will drop temperatures even more going into the weekend. The Denver metro area may not climb above freezing on Saturday.