The metro area will be balmy today before a very large mass of very cold air arrives from Canada on Sunday.
Temperatures Saturday should reach the mid 50s, according to the National Weather Service. But enjoy it while it’s here because temperatures will be dropping Sunday all the way to a possible low of 5-below-zero Sunday night.
This afternoon and tonight, a thin band of heavy snow blew in along I-70 in the mountains, dropping as much as six inches in three hours at the west portal of the Eisenhower Tunnel. By 8 p.m., the snow storm began drifting south and losing its intensity, dropping only flurries on Leadville, Salida and south.
Chain laws were in effect for Vail and Loveland passes. Eastbound lanes were briefly closed this afternoon because of an accident, but reopened at 3 p.m.
Winds out of the west on Saturday will bring very dry, warm air in over the metro area, with a good deal of sunshine.
However, the jet stream from far northern Canada is aiming at Colorado, due to arrive sometime after midnight Sunday morning. NWS forecaster Mike Baker called it a “beastly cold” front, bringing very dry, fluffy snow early Sunday morning. The metro area and eastern plains could receive up to three or four inches early Sunday, with gusty winds and low visibility.
But the snow should end by daybreak Sunday.
Temperatures will be in the teens at sunrise Sunday and continue to drop through the day. They could reach single digits by sunset, then drop below zero, as low as -5 during the night, Baker said.
Mike McPhee: 303-954-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com
