Colorado Weather: Snow stays away from Denver for New Year's Eve but hits the mountains hard
A big batch of moisture on the West Coast on Friday will gradually move east through the holiday weekend causing big snow in the mountains.
A Winter Storm Warning starts late Friday for all mountain areas in Colorado west of Vail Pass, Monarch Pass, and Wolf Creek Pass. The Steamboat Springs area and The Flat Tops region are also under the warning which continues through Monday.
Some mountain areas will receive up to 2 feet of snow and travelers should plan on winter driving conditions and significant slowdowns in the high country including along Interstate 70 and Highway 40 all weekend.
The mountains of Summit County, the Winter Park area, and the Rocky Mountain National Park region are not currently under any advisories or warnings but snow will still fall in those areas. Most of the I-70 mountain corridor above Georgetown will get at least 5-10 inches inches of snow from late Friday through early Monday.
For Denver and the Front Range, dry conditions will continue through at least Sunday morning but clouds will mix with sunshine to create partly sunny conditions each day. A light rain/snow mix possible in the Denver metro area in the late afternoon on Sunday followed by a good chance for snow Sunday night and Monday. At this time, the snow forecast is uncertain but most areas around Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins will get at least 1 inch of snow and some areas could get more than 4 inches.
The forecast in the metro area for Saturday night looks good for celebrating the new year. Skies will be mostly cloudy which means somewhat warmer temperatures compared to normal for two big firework shows in Denver at 9 p.m. and midnight.
Temperatures will also get colder for the first week of the new year with 20s and 30s for highs on Monday and Tuesday.
