Denver Weather: Snow And Cold Returns On Friday
DENVER (CBS4) - Thursday will be mostly sunny and mild before a cold front brings cold and snow back to the Denver metro area on Friday. Accumulation will be light but the CBS4 Weather Team has issued a First Alert Weather Day because of when the heaviest snow could fall.
Before the cold front arrives early Friday, Thursday will be a pleasant day around most of Colorado with above normal temperatures almost statewide. In the Denver metro area, it will be the warmest day of the work week with high temperatures well into the 50s. A few neighborhoods could briefly reach 60 degrees Thursday afternoon.
Then temperatures will drop about 15 degrees along the Front Range for Friday with high temperatures struggling to reach 40 degrees in Denver. The front will be too shallow to reach west of the Continental Divide so the Western Slope could actually be warmer on Friday than Thursday.
Snow will initially develop in the foothills of Jefferson, Boulder, and Larimer Counties before 12 p.m. Friday. Then a few bands of snow will develop in the metro area mostly after 2 p.m. Snow is then possible through the evening commute and should end before midnight Friday night in most areas.
Snow accumulation will be limited with most locations getting less than 2 inches of accumulation. Most of northern Colorado including the Fort Collins, Loveland, and Greeley may get nothing more than a trace. Areas in the foothills and near the foothills in Jefferson and Boulder Counties have the best potential of seeing slightly higher amounts with up to 3 inches possible in cities like Boulder and Golden.
A narrow strip of light accumulation will also stretch into southern Colorado with a couple inches possible in the Sangre de Cristo and Wet Mountains. Mountains areas west of Vail Pass likely won't get any accumulating snow and even ski areas east of Vail Pass probably won't get more than 2-3 inches.
Colorado turns very dry again late Friday night and the weekend will be dry statewide. Saturday starts cold with metro area temperatures in the teens. Then much warmer weather arrives for Sunday and Monday. Our attention will then turn to next Wednesday for another chance of snow.
