Springtime will have to pardon the rude interruption of a significant winter storm barreling down on Colorado.
Cold rain and blowing snow is predicted from the mountains to the plains, with a winter storm watch for much of the state from 6 a.m. Wednesday to 6 p.m. Thursday, according to the National Weather Service Office in Boulder.
With moisture sweeping in from the Pacific and across the warm desert Southwest to meet the cold Rocky Mountain air, “the state is looking pretty unstable,” said Kyle Fredin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder said tonight.
The mountains could see between one and two feet of snow, according to forecasters.
“If this thing sets up right, we could see a good six inches in the metro area,” Fredin said, adding that forecasters would know much more about the track of the storm Wednesday.
The Front Range’s strongest chances of heavy snow are between rush hour Wednesday evening and rush hour Thursday morning, according to the forecast.
“The potential is out there for a strong spring storm to pass across the state,” Fredin said.
Gusts could reach 50 mph in the mountains and up to 30 mph in the plains Wednesday. Snow showers are expected to develop in the north central mountains overnight, fed by moisture from the desert Southwest. Snow showers should begin on the Front Range before after midnight, reaching the plains by dawn, according to the weather service.
Snow chances diminish Thursday night with temperatures remaining chilly on Friday. Dry and unseasonably warm weather should return Saturday through Monday, with temperatures reaching the 60s, according to forecasters.
