Strong Winter Storm Arrives Tonight

By Chris Spears

DENVER (CBS4) - After a very mild and quiet end to the week we'll see some drastic changes develop over the next 12 hours.

A winter storm that moved into California late Friday night will pass over Colorado during the day on Sunday, spreading wind and snow from the mountains onto the eastern plains.

Snow will move into the mountains and become widespread after sunset today. Because most of the snow will fall during the overnight there could be some difficult travel at times.

In general totals should be in the 4-8" or 5-10" range with isolated higher pockets.

In Denver, Greeley, Boulder, Fort Collins and points east colder air will arrive early Sunday morning. Depending on the exact arrival time there could initially be a round of freezing drizzle before the snow arrives.

All snow is expected after sunrise on Sunday and it will likely last through most of the day. We will see a wide range of totals with the highest amounts expected along a narrow band from the foothills of southern Jefferson County to Castle Rock, Elizabeth, Limon and onto the northeast plains. (line of white arrows on the image below)

As the low pressure moves into western Kansas it will rapidly intensify and that will mean strong winds on the northeast plains by Sunday night. In fact blizzard conditions could develop at times in that part of Colorado.

Meteorologist Chris Spears travels weekly in the CBS4 Mobile Weather Lab reporting about Colorado's weather and climate. Check out his bio, connect with him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter @ChrisCBS4.