After a quick hiatus of calmer weather, another storm is about to move in bringing a blast of arctic air and some impactful snow to Colorado.
Winter weather alerts are posted for much of the high country with Denver, Boulder and Fort Collins included. There are also winter storm watches posted for the far northeast plains. This is going to be a potent and widespread snowstorm. The other aspect of this storm is that it will come with some very cold air. We’re looking at sub-zero temperatures with windchill values well below zero Wednesday night into Thursday, then all day Thursday into Friday.
Winter Weather Advisories have been issued for most of northeast Colorado Wednesday into Thursday, with impacts to tomorrow evening’s commute expected. Be prepared for slick conditions! #cowx pic.twitter.com/wM2Cgj7IvT
— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder) March 8, 2022
For the Interstate 25 corridor, snow will begin earlier in the day Wednesday around Ft. Collins. Snow will begin in Denver during the mid-morning hours with some heavy, banded snow possible into the afternoon and evening. Colorado Springs and Pueblo will see snow begin in the early afternoon hours.
Some of the initial snow will be heavy at times with 1 to 4 inches of accumulation expected by Wednesday night for the urban corridor. Light snow will continue overnight into Thursday morning. Upslope winds will allow for light snow to fall throughout much of Thursday so expect a cold and snowy day. This storm begins to move out Thursday evening but a few snow showers may linger into the overnight hours on the Eastern Plains.
The other big story with this storm is going to be the cold. You’ll know when the front comes through because there will be a decent bout of wind followed by a big drop in temperatures. Temperatures may not reach above 25 degrees Wednesday and will dip into the teens by the evening commute. With snow likely, the evening commute Wednesday is likely to be impacted as will the Thursday morning commute.
In total, the storm will deliver some healthy snow totals for much of the state with up to a foot of snow possible in the mountains. Tough driving conditions are expected in the high country as early as Wednesday morning.
Much of the state will see snow from this storm. The northern mountains will see the most with more than a foot of snow possible by Thursday afternoon. The central and southern mountains will see up to a foot of snow from this storm – so overall, a nice drink of water for our mountains.
From Ft. Collins to Denver, 3 to 5 inches of snow is likely with slightly higher totals in the foothills to the west of town. Colorado Springs should end up in the 2- to 5-inch range with similar totals in Pueblo and Trinidad. Again, there could be some jet-enhanced snow bands and those snow bands could bring some higher snow totals. We’re already off to one of our snowiest starts of the year and have made great improvements to our drought because of that so this incoming storm will only further benefit us.
Once this storm moves out Thursday night, we’ll be left with some residual cold on Friday but it will turn much sunnier so we should begin to see some decent melting happen Friday. This weekend looks absolutely gorgeous with highs in the 50s and low 60s with plenty of sunshine to go around. A nice reward after this midweek winter blast.
Andy Stein is a freelance meteorologist.
