Several inches of snow are expected to accumulate in Colorado’s mountains by Tuesday, with a small amount headed for the metro area after another day of “critical” fire danger, according to the National Weather Service.
Snowfall will start in the mountains Saturday afternoon and continue into Tuesday morning, . The storm is expected to be strongest between Saturday evening and Sunday morning, prompting the weather service to issue a .
The advisory, which will be in effect from 6 p.m. Saturday to 9 a.m. Sunday, covers parts of Boulder, Clear Creek, Gilpin, Grand, Jackson, Larimer, Park and Summit counties, according to the weather service.
“Plan on slippery road conditions,” forecasters said in the advisory. “Blowing snow may produce near whiteout conditions at times, particularly for mountain passes over the Continental Divide.”
As of Saturday morning, , snowfall expected to accumulate by 6 a.m. Tuesday included:
- 1/2 inch in Aurora, Arvada, Boulder, Brighton, Castle Rock, Centennial, Commerce City, Denver, Highlands Ranch, Littleton, Northglenn and Parker, with up to 2 inches possible.
- 1/2 inch at Denver International Airport, with up to 2 inches possible.
- 1 inch in Evergreen, with up to 3 inches possible.
- 3 inches in Georgetown and Breckenridge, with up to 4 inches possible.
- 4 inches on Willow Creek Pass, Vail Pass and at Winter Park, with up to 7 inches possible.
- 5 inches at Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, with up to 6 inches possible.
- 6 inches on Loveland Pass, with up to 7 inches possible.
- 7 inches on Berthoud Pass, with up to 9 inches possible.
- 8 inches on Cameron Pass, with up to 11 inches possible.
A red flag warning for “critical fire conditions” will remain in effect for the Denver area until 9 p.m. Saturday. Snow could start in the metro area as early as 1 a.m. Sunday and continue as late as 5 p.m., . The strongest chance for snow in the metro area will be from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday.
Denver temperatures will drop overnight from a Saturday high of 76 to a low of 24, . Sunday temperatures will struggle to reach above freezing and drop even further overnight into Monday for a low of 16 degrees.
