Denver Weather: Cold Front Today, Snow Likely Tomorrow

DENVER (CBS4) - A cold front moving from Wyoming into Colorado will cause temperatures to drop into the 40s in the Denver metro area Thursday afternoon. The 4 p.m. temperature on Thursday will be about 30 degrees colder than it was at the same time on Wednesday.

Although it will turn sharply colder, any precipitation will be limited to just a few sprinkles or very light rain showers on Thursday.  It will also be windy at times as the cold front passes with wind gusts up to 30 mph.

Looking ahead to Friday, a storm that has been spinning over California for most of this week will finally eject east toward toward Colorado. The storm will take advantage of the colder air associated with Thursday's cold front and produce slushy snow across most of Colorado.

Accumulation is expected to be minor in most areas and largely confined to the grass, rooftops, and vehicles in the metro area. The vast majority of neighborhoods in the Denver area will get less than 1 inch of accumulation. Slightly higher amounts are possible farther north with up to 2 inches around Boulder, Longmont, Fort Collins, and Greeley.

There is no lower threshold with the snow forecast and some areas may not see any accumulation. Still, virtually everyone along the Front Range will get snow at some point on Friday.

Snow accumulation is expected to far greater elsewhere around the state including in the northeast corner. Locations such as Sterling, Julesburg, Holyoke, and Akron could see up to 5 inches of snow. Most mountain areas will get 2-6 inches of accumulation while the San Juan Mountains in southwest Colorado will see local amounts up to 20 inches.

Once the snow ends Friday evening, improving weather will return for Saturday and Sunday. Lingering snow is possible in the mountains on Saturday but it should be dry statewide on Sunday.