March is making good on the statistical promise of being Colorado’s snowiest month, sending people scrambling to reschedule — and reschedule, again — their outdoor plans.
After a two-day break of warm temperatures and clear skies, the National Weather Service broke out the winter storm warning — again — on Tuesday, predicting heavy snow through tonight.
Hail pelted parts of the metro and thunder rolled through downtown Tuesday afternoon as the front edge of a storm that threatened to dump 5 to 10 inches in the mountains and 8 to 16 inches in the urban corridor from the Palmer Divide north began its slow swirl through the state.
By the time the snow ends tonight, forecasters expect to see 6 to 12 inches piled up along Interstate 70 all the way to Limon.
The weather should be dry and warm along the Front Range on Thursday and Friday, the Weather Service said.
By 5 p.m. Tuesday, Claudia Gutierrez was watching her world transform.
“It’s snowing really bad in Westminster,” she said. “Cars and grass are covered in snow already.”
She might have to change plans for Saturday, when there is a 10 percent chance of snow and she needs to go to a birthday party for her grandson.
“I may have to stay home,” she said.
Things are just as iffy with the Colorado Fusion Youth Soccer Club this weekend.
“We already lost last weekend’s games because we had the better part of a foot of snow on Saturday,” said executive director Jeff Park. “We’re hoping the new weather system clears up by the weekend.”
The chance of snow Saturday comes just in time for the State Cup competition for Colorado’s youth soccer leagues, which could mean another bout of rescheduling.
“We’re supposed to play two times this weekend,” Park said. “but they might need to reschedule or postpone.”
Plans to begin a major landscape restoration at Riverside Cemetery on Thursday are riding on the weather.
Al Gerace, owner of Welby Gardens, plans to plant 30,000 tulip bulbs in the historic cemetery as part of a revitalization project that will run throughout the summer.
“If we get 4 inches of snow (on Wednesday), then there’s still a chance of doing it on Thursday, but if we get a foot, we may try to sandwich it in on Friday,” said Gerace, who donated the bulbs in memory of family members buried there.
“It looks like there’s something coming in on Saturday. That’s the story of landscape gardeners,” he said. “The weather is the boss.”
Denver’s oldest cemetery lost most of its grass and trees in the 2002-03 drought, but a coterie of landscape designers — led by the Colorado Association of Lawn Care Professionals — banded together to volunteer to replant the area.
“We’re prepared to be flexible,” said Patricia Carmody, head of the Fairmount Heritage Foundation, which coordinates the restoration program.
“Anyone who’s lived in Colorado for any length of time knows you could have all four seasons in one day at this time of year,” she said. “You always need a Plan B.”
Colleen O’Connor: 303-954-1083 or coconnor@denverpost.com
