Colorado Weather: Snow to impact the Wednesday evening and Thursday morning commutes

A storm from the West Coast will race across Colorado through Thursday morning bringing a healthy dose of moisture. A First Alert Weather Day has been declared for the Denver metro area because of impacts from snow during the Wednesday evening and Thursday morning commutes.

Because the storm originated in the Pacific Ocean instead of Canada like the storm last week, temperatures will be considerably warmer than a week ago. Therefore precipitation will start as rain in Denver and all along the Front Range urban corridor for areas below about 7,500 feet.

The first rain drops will arrive in the early afternoon and the chance for rain will get better with time through about 5 p.m. Wednesday. Then snow will mix with the rain and eventually all the precipitation will switch over to snow.

Snow totals will depend on the precise time the rain changes to snow but most neighborhoods in the Denver metro area will get no more than 3-4 inches of snow. Areas farther north like Fort Collins, Loveland, and Greeley should get less while areas above 6,000 feet on the south and southwest sides of the metro area could get as much as 8 inches of snow.

Most areas around Denver and Boulder are under a Winter Weather Advisory from late Wednesday afternoon through early Thursday morning. Total snowfall will depend on the exact time the rain changes to snow but the general expectation is for 2-6 inches of snow. Higher amounts are possible south and west while lower amounts are possible north and east of Denver.

The snow will be much heavier and wetter compared to the dry and fluffy snow that feel during the extreme cold last week. Most of it will end for the Denver metro area shortly after midnight and anything that remains should end before sunrise on Thursday. It will linger longer on Colorado's Eastern Plains where the moisture will be very welcomed. Regardless, roads in the metro area could be icy and/or slushy during the Thursday morning drive.

For the high country, snow will continue along the I-70 mountain corridor through Wednesday night before finally ending during the day on Thursday. Additional snow will return to the mountains on Friday but Denver and the Front Range will stay dry through Sunday morning.

Another First Alert Weather Day has already been declared on Sunday for more snow in the Denver metro area by Sunday evening.