Colorado Weather: Denver could finally see the first snow of the season by Thursday night
A storm set to arrive in Colorado on Thursday could finally bring Denver the first snow of the season which is now more than two weeks behind schedule.
The average first snow in the Mile High City is October 18.
Before the storm arrives, Wednesday will be another unusually warm day with 70s along the Front Range and even 80 degrees in southeast Colorado. The combination of warm temperatures, occasionally gusty wind, low humidity, and dry soil means elevated fire danger everywhere and critically high fire danger southeast of the metro area. Areas such as Limon, Burlington, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, La Junta, and Limon are under a Red Flag Warning for high fire danger through 6 p.m. Wednesday.
The incoming storm will initially bring rain to the Western Slope by late Wednesday evening followed by snow across the mountains including the I-70 mountain corridor Wednesday night.
Denver and the Front Range will stay through at least late morning on Thursday. Then scattered rain showers will develop Thursday afternoon followed by a change to snow in the Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins areas mainly after 6 p.m.
A First Alert Weather Day has been declared for Thursday and Thursday night which means significant weather is expected. At this time, most travel issues will be limited to areas above 7,000 feet and especially areas above 9,000 feet including I-70 between Georgetown and Avon.
In the mountains, a Winter Weather Advisory has been issued for areas west of Vail Pass for 6-12 inches of snow. The advisory is expected to be expanded east into Summit County, Winter Park, and Rocky Mountain National Park region for at least 4-8 inches of snow in those areas.
For Denver and the Front Range, snow amounts will be considerably less compared to the mountains. Most neighborhoods will see no more than 2 inches of accumulation mostly on the grass and not on the roads below 6,000 feet.
The bigger impact in the metro area may be the cold with mid 20s in Denver Friday morning and only lower 40s Friday afternoon.