April snow coats Denver metro area
By Kerrin Jeromin
A wet, heavy spring snow blanketed the Denver metro area Friday night into Saturday leaving behind 2 to 8 inches of sticky snow in many communities.
The winter weather advisory is no longer in effect.
The highest totals fell across the northern metro due to localized heavy bands of snow. Denver International Airport, the Denver area's "official" snow measuring location, picked up 6.3 inches of snow through Saturday morning.
The snow coated trees and powerlines, leaving more than 3,000 customers without power briefly early Saturday, mainly in foothill communities of Jefferson County. Travelers encountered mainly wet or slush-covered roads Saturday morning.
Ski areas also benefitted from this late-season snowfall. As of Saturday morning, Eldora reported nearly a foot of new snow. While the season is starting to wind down, there are still several ski areas open for skiing and riding across Colorado.
April snow and chilly weather are anything but unusual here in Colorado. On average, April is Denver's second snowiest month behind March. The average date of last measurable snow for the Denver area is April 28, and the latest ever recorded was June 5, 1953. Even though Earth Day is Monday, don't think about planting those flowers just yet. The average date for the last freeze (32 degrees or below) is May 5.
Forecast
Looking ahead, lingering moisture will result in leftover rain and snow showers, along with ample cloud cover, which will remain around the Denver metro area through Saturday. It will stay chilly with temperatures about 20 degrees below average, holding in the lower 40s.
Areas of dense fog can be expected through early Sunday morning around the metro area and nearby foothills.
Drier air returns by Sunday with morning fog giving way to sunshine once again. Temperatures will recover nicely under sunshine, back to the lower 60s.
Temperatures will rebound even more for Earth Day, back into the lower 70s.