Temperatures are expected to reach 20-below zero by morning in northwestern Colorado, with the High Country poised for more snow and cold in the week ahead, according to the National Weather Service.
The Front Range, meanwhile, has a relatively warm work week in its forecast.
The central and northwestern mountains could see another foot of snow by Tuesday night from a storm that rolls in Monday, followed by a warm-up, then another snowstorm by the weekend, according to the forecast.
The region continues to dig out from this weekend’s storm that left six to nine inches of new snow across the mountains.
Snow has been generous so far this year. The statewide snowpack is at 115 percent of its 30-year average.
Southern Colorado is at more than 130 percent of its average, with the basins of the Gunnison and Colorado rivers both at nearly 125 percent of average, which is likely to mean full reservoirs next spring.
The South Platte River basin, which includes Denver, is at just 85 percent of average, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Lakewood, which measures snowpack.
The metro region is expected to shed the bitter cold Monday, after temperatures dip to seven degrees before sunrise.
Highs are expected to be in the 40s until Wednesday, when temperatures press into the 50s, then possibly into the 60s on Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.
The metro region’s next chance of snow is Friday, but highs are still expected to be in the 40s each day.
The weather station at Denver International Airport recorded a high of 24 degrees Sunday, with a low of 11.
January’s erratic start follows December’s wide-swinging pendulum in the metro region, from a low of minus-19 on Dec. 15 to a high of 69 degrees on Dec. 2.
Six days recorded lows below zero. The average December temperature in for the month was 26.7 degrees. The average January temperature is 29.2 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
