After a warm and sunny weekend, we’re jumping back on the snow train this week. A potent storm is headed toward Denver, bringing the coldest air of the season — and possibly our biggest snow of the season too.
Highs are not expected to get above freezing Tuesday afternoon and snow should start to fall across the metro area around or just after the evening commute. Expect snow to start in the mountains and push toward the foothills near Boulder then eventually into the metro area.
This will be a pretty classic upslope snow event, so areas west of Denver will end up with the heaviest snowfall. Snow will continue overnight into Wednesday with another push of cold air and reinforcing upslope winds, which will allow the snow to keep falling throughout the day Wednesday.
Here’s a look at what we’re expecting in terms of snow totals by Thursday morning.
- Denver: 4-6″
- Boulder: 6-8″
- Fort Collins: 6-8″
- Colorado Springs: 4-6″
- Bailey: 4-6″
With this being a long-duration upslope snow event, we’ll likely see some surprisingly big snowfall totals. It wouldn’t be out of the question to forecast a foot of snow in Boulder and the western Foothills.
These snow totals will change a bit before the first flakes fly (they could possibly go up). The biggest impacts are likely to be felt on the Wednesday morning and evening commutes. On top of this, we’re expecting temperatures to be brutally cold on Wednesday and Thursday.
While we’ve had some negative readings this season, the incoming blast of cold will be more widespread. Thursday morning low temperatures are expected to drop anywhere from negative 2 to negative 12, with the wind making it feel more like the teens and twenties below zero at times.
This kind of cold is very dangerous to humans and animals. Be sure to prepare.
This storm is set to deliver a serious boost to our snow numbers for the season. We’re currently running a deficit of nearly 10 inches but this will help to close that gap a bit.
Not a bad way to end January.
We're within 10" of a 'normal' snow season with up to 6 or 7" in the forecast this week.
— Hey, its Andy 🏔️ (@AndySteinWx)
Enjoy the cold and snow if you can!
