Much Needed Precipitation Coming To Colorado
DENVER (CBS4) - The Denver area is officially experiencing severe drought. We have seen less than half of our normal snowfall through this point in the season. So it's terrific news that we have rain and snow in the forecast for Thursday night into Friday. We need this rain and snow badly.
Ahead of this storm, we have dry and windy conditions. This means more high fire danger for the Front Range and plains. Red Flag Warnings will be in place on Thursday, be extra careful outside. Temperatures will once again hit the low 70s ahead of this storm.
Rain and snow will first start on the Western Slope early on Thursday. The rain and heads for the Front Range and plains in the evening on Thursday, potentially bringing some heavier rainfall in the late night hours. The snow level is tricky for the Urban Corridor, we could see it drop as low as 5500 feet at times through Friday morning. This could mean we see several inches of wet, sloppy snow accumulate by lunch time. Again, this is tricky. The snow won't pile up like a light, fluffy wintery storm. And if we bounce back to rain at times, the accumulations won't look like a ton in some spots, but there should be a lot of liquid with this storm.
South of Denver and in the southern foothills, Winter Storm Watches are in place for 7 to 15 inches of snow. Along with gusty winds, we could see very low visibility in many areas. Then precipitation will gradually spread east across the mountains during the day before reaching the Front Range Thursday evening mainly after 6 p.m. It will start as rain in the metro area and then change into snow after midnight. But we should point out there is still uncertainty regarding the precise snow level along the I-25 corridor. At this time we expect Northern Colorado to get much less.
The mountains are in for a good shot of snow, they need it as well. Winter Weather Advisories are in place for 4 to 6 inches of snow, with up to a foot locally in some areas.
We dry out quickly on Saturday with high temperatures back close 60° in Denver. More rain possible on Sunday and several more chances for rain and snow next week. Great news, we need it!
Watch meteorologist Lauren Whitney on CBS4 News on weekday evenings at 5, 6, 6:30 and 10 p.m. Check out her bio, connect with her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter @LaurenCBS4.
