Denver's Weekend Storm Could Be Biggest To Hit City In 3 Years
DENVER (CBS4) - All eyes remain on the approaching winter storm that will have an impact on Colorado this weekend.
Rain and snow showers are expected to develop as early as Friday afternoon with unsettled weather lasting until early Monday.
Did you know it has been just over three years since Denver saw a foot of snow?
On February 2-4, 2013, 15.9 inches of snow fell over three days with 12.5 inches falling on Feb. 3, breaking a daily record.
There was one storm that was very close to a foot on Mar. 22-24, 2013. It brought 11.7 inches to Denver.
We're not saying this storm will be the biggest since then, but it certainly will have the potential if everything comes together just right.
Normally to get a big Front Range snow, you look for an area of low pressure somewhere in the vicinity of southeast Colorado.
But not this time.
Two things will be working in tandem to produce this weekend's snow.
A weather system diving south from the northern Rockies will sit and spin to the west of our state through early Monday.
That will place Colorado in an area of favorable conditions for widespread precipitation.
In addition, a cold front sliding south from Canada will move into northeast Colorado sometime on Saturday, adding upslope enhancement to the storm.
Computer forecast models continue to show a wide potential of snow, ranging from several inches to a few feet in some locations.
Despite the wide variety of solutions, one trend seen over the past 24 hours is that they all indicate an increasing potential for significant snowfall this weekend, in excess of 6 inches.
The following two graphs are from the North American Model and show a widespread snow of 6 to 12 inches through 5 p.m. Sunday.
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The Global Forecast System model continues to be one of the more aggressive models showing many places could approach or even exceed a foot by Monday, including Denver.
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We invite you to stay with CBS4 and the Colorado Weather Center for the latest throughout the weekend.
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Meteorologist Chris Spears writes about stories related to weather and climate in Colorado. Check out his bio or follow him on Twitter @ChrisCBS4.
