Denver Weather: Heavy snow to impact travel Tuesday night and Wednesday morning

After dry and cool weather for MLK Day on Monday, a storm coming from California will bring heavy snow to the urban corridor and eastern plains starting late Tuesday.

A First Alert Weather Day has been declared starting at 5 p.m. Tuesday for deteriorating road conditions. The most difficult travel is expected on the Eastern Plains including along the I-70 and I-76 corridors east of the metro area. But all roads around Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins will also become snowpacked and anyone planning travel should be prepared for significant delays.

Total snowfall for most areas along the urban corridor will be at least 4-6 inches and some areas could get as much as 8-10 inches. The most likely areas for the heaviest snowfall will be on the east and southeast sides of the metro area thanks to heavier snow bands that should move across those areas.

In anticipation of the snow, the National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Watch for all of northeast Colorado from 5 p.m. Tuesday until 5 p.m. Wednesday.

The storm will bring less snow to the mountains compared to the eastern plains but many Colorado ski areas will get at least 3-6 inches of snow on Tuesday and Wednesday. The exception is the San Juan Mountains in southwest Colorado where a Winter Storm Warning is in effect from 2 p.m. Monday until 11 a.m. Wednesday for up to 16 inches of snow around Telluride, Lake City, Ouray, and Wolf Creek Pass. Durango, Cortez, and the Highway 160 corridor west of Wolf Creek will get 6-10 inches of snow.

Colder weather will also arrive this incoming storm. After high temperatures in the 40s in Denver on Monday, highs will be stuck in the 20s and 30s for at least a week.