Colorado weather: Mountain snow for the weekend, with cooler weather for the plains

Wonderful news for our mountains heading into the weekend as this period of dry weather ends. Light snow began falling Thursday afternoon and will continue to fall through the weekend, bringing some healthy totals to the high country.

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Several mountain areas are under Winter Weather Advisories through Friday evening. The San Juans, Flat Tops, Yampa River Basin, could receive 5-10" of snow, with some higher amounts possible about 8500 ft.

By Friday evening, a Winter Storm Warning will go into effect for the Jackson County mountains, including Rabbit Ears Pass. Over the weekend heavy snow will fall at times, bringing 14-28" of accumulation, with the heaviest snow falling in Rabbit Ears Pass. On top of the heavy snow, winds will also create concern, with winds gusting up to 55 mph. That will cause visibility concerns and could make for some hazardous travel.

While snow will continue to fall for most mountains over the weekend, it will remain lighter along the I-70 corridor. The plains may not get left out of this storm system, with the possibility of a few light flurries Friday afternoon. Another chance of snow for lower elevations will come on Sunday morning.

By the weekend, the Denver metro and Front Range areas will see a little rebound in high temperatures. Highs on Saturday will climb into the low 40s, but winds will also pick up Saturday afternoon. Winds could gust around 30 mph at times. Sunday will come with a little more warmth and a little more sunshine.

A ridge of high pressure will build on Monday, generating even more warmth. This early December warm-up comes with afternoon highs that will run roughly 20 degrees warmer than normal.

Temperatures on Wednesday and Thursday will climb into the 60s, with dry weather and sunshine returning.