Colorado Weather: Incoming Storm Guarantees Mountain Snow, Not Much For Denver

DENVER (CBS4) - The extended period of warm and dry weather Colorado has been experiencing will end this weekend. Snow will spread across the mountains starting late Saturday and the entire state will become much cooler by Sunday.

Before the storm arrives, Friday will be the fifth consecutive day with highs in the 70s in the Denver metro area and 70s are expected at lower elevations for one final day on Saturday.

Then a storm system coming from the West Coast will bring a guarantee for periods of snow in the mountains from Saturday night through Monday night.

It's possible there could be a few rain showers around Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins Saturday night into Sunday (it should be far too warm for snow) but the westerly trajectory of the storm will cause significant downsloping along the Front Range which will work hard to prevent any precipitation.

The same downslope will be in the place as the second part of the storm reaches Colorado on Monday. By then it will be sufficiently cold for snow instead of rain in the metro area. But downslope winds should again limit how much moisture is able to reach lower elevations. Therefore, a few snow showers are possible in the metro area on Monday but any accumulation is expected to be very minor (under 1 inch).

Regardless how much moisture is able to reach the urban corridor, it will definitely be windy at times from late Saturday through Monday. Gusts should top 35 mph at times and it will be even windier at times in the mountains.

The biggest snow in the state from this complex storm system will be in the San Juan Mountains in southwest Colorado. The mountains surrounding Telluride, Lake City, Ouray, and Silverton could easily see more than 18 inches of snow from Saturday night through Monday night.

Farther north, total amounts will generally range from 6 to 12 inches total with about half of that coming Saturday night into early Sunday and rest coming mainly on Monday into Monday night. The most difficult time to travel in the mountains will likely be on Monday.

Again, impacts from this storm in the metro area are currently expected to be minimal with only very minor accumulation possible on Monday.