Heavy snow heading for Colorado's high country, some mountain areas will see highest totals so far this season

A winter storm is brewing and ready to head toward Colorado's high country starting on Friday night.

Light to moderate snow will fill in for the northern and central mountain starting Friday morning. Northwestern mountains could pick up 4 to 8 inches, but other areas will see minor accumulations. The snow Friday tapers a bit in the early evening before ramping up in the overnight hours into Saturday morning.

This storm will mainly impact the northwestern and central mountain areas. We will see a fast deterioration of road conditions, making for very tough travel along many mountain areas on Saturday and Sunday. Gusts up to 55 mph are possible, creating extremely low visibility as well.

Parts of Jackson and Grand counties are expected to see the biggest dose of snow. Rabbit Ears Pass will be extremely difficult for travel, with up to two feet of snow possible from Friday night to Saturday night. On top of the 4 to 8 inches of snow expected through the day on Friday. This will most likely be the area's biggest snow of the season so far.

Winter storm warnings and winter weather Advisories will be in place Friday night and through Saturday night. Again, we can't stress enough how bad the roads could be. The Front Range mountain areas could see 7 to 14 inches of snow and areas near Vail and Aspen could see up to a foot. The Flat Tops and Elk Mountain ranges could end up with close to 18 inches of snow.

If you're heading up to go skiing, know it will be tough to travel and conditions on the mountains will be very windy. While the storm will lose some power overnight into Sunday, the roads will still be hard for drivers. They'll be icy and snowpacked with snow still continuing.