Sunny skies and high temperatures pushing 40 degrees in the Denver area today should melt away ice, snow and slush on metro highways.
The morning commute will be a slippery one for metro area drivers, especially south and west of the city where overnight snow totals were deepest in metro Denver.
Tonight’s Denver area low temperature should be about 24 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
There will be a slight chance of a rain or snow shower in Denver on Wednesday after 11 a.m. Skies will be mostly cloudy and a high temperature will be near 43 degrees.
In the mountains, the snow making system that pounded the southern high country has moved off to the east. The mountains will get a bit of a weather break but snow showers are possible throughout the week and some mountain areas will have an 80 percent chance of snow on Wednesday.
Some ski areas, especially in the south, are posting impressive 48 hours snow totals from the weekend storm — including 50 inches at Silverton Mountain and 48 inches at Wolf Creek Pass, according to Colorado Ski Country USA. Vail posted 19 inches of fresh snow and Winter Park 13 inches.
The heavy snows in the mountains have pushed the total precipitation of Colorado river basins into impressive ranges as well, with the Gunnison River Basin at 137 percent of average, the Arkansas River Basin and the Colorado River Basin both at 121 percent, and the South Platte River Basin at 99 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service.
The next weather making moving into the state on Wednesday will bring more snow mostly to the north and central mountains, according to the weather service.
Thursday will be a down day for snow in the mountains, but snow making weather systems should pick up again Friday and continue to bring fresh powder to the high country.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
