Denver has a 10 percent of snow after 11 p.m., and a 40 percent chance on Friday as temperatures hold steady at about 33 degrees, the National Weather Service said this afternoon.
The mountains from Gunnison to Steamboat Springs are under a winter weather watch from 11 p.m. to 3 p.m. Friday with another 4 to 10 inches of snow expected from the latest brew of Pacific moisture and arctic cold.
Higher terrain could see sustained northwest winds up to 30 mph and gusts up to 45 mph, forecasters warned. Single-digit lows are expected Friday across the mountains.
The latest storm adds to the avalanche danger in the Colorado mountains.
“A 12- to 18-hour period of heavy snow combined with strong winds will add a quick load to a snowpack that is very weak,” the National Weather Service stated. “The avalanche danger will rise quickly by Friday morning in areas that receive more than 8 inches of snow.
“Natural and human-triggered slides will become likely.”
Backcountry travelers are being urged to stay alert and stay away from slopes steeper than 30 degrees. Storms last week resulted in four avalanche fatalities in five days, one short of a year’s average for the state.
The system will drive 45 mph gusts across the far eastern plains of Colorado Friday, which motorists in tall vehicles or those pulling trailers should be wary of, according to the National Weather Service.
Temperatures in the Denver metro area Saturday should return to the seasonal mid-40s, the rise into the mid-50s on Sunday, forecasters said.
Snow is expected to move out of the central and northern mountains Friday night, leaving sunny skies, breezy conditions and daily highs in the 20 and 30s this weekend.
Another round of snow is more good news for the high country, which has lagged in snowpack since November.
Snowpacks in most of western Colorado have improve 5 to 10 percent from storms over the past week, but still remain below-average for this time of year.
Snowpack in southwest Colorado is 78 percent of its 30-year average as of today. The Gunnison River basin is at 74 percent, the Colorado River basin is 70 percent and the basins of the Yampa and White rivers is 64 percent, the lowest in the state, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Lakewood.
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
