DENVER — After a week of 60-plus degree temperatures, a major storm could bring heavy snow and rain to eastern Colorado this weekend, though many questions linger.
A strong area of low pressure moving through the southwestern U.S. will first bring significant rain and snow to California before potentially setting its sights on Colorado, with mountain snow starting as early as Friday morning. Rain or snow looks likely to push into the Denver area sometime on Friday or Friday night, though this is where forecast details get murkier.
Depending on where and how strong of a secondary area of low pressure sets up late Friday night or Saturday morning, the Denver area could see an initial period of rain flipping over to heavy snow.
At this point, it appears the majority of the metro area impacts from this storm will be on Friday night and Saturday, with any snow likely winding down later in the day on Sunday. Again, that's also subject to change.
Lots of meteorological conditions are in place for a potentially significant snow event across eastern Colorado this weekend. There'll be an unusually high amount of moisture with this storm, as it'll tap into energy from the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. There's the potential for 3/4 to an inch of precipitation from this storm, which is a ton for this time of the year.
For context, Denver only averages about four-tenths of an inch of total precipitation over the entire month of February.
Because there'll likely be so much moisture from this storm, that means there's the potential for a significant snow event along the urban corridor – and part of the reason we want to alert you to this possibility, even though we're still almost a week away from possible impacts.
If only about half of the storm falls as snow, that would likely still be enough for a few inches or more of slushy snow for the majority of the metro area, with the clear possibility for more than that.
The foothills above 6,000 feet in elevation have the highest chance for a significant snow event, with 6 inches or more of snow possible from this storm. Specifics beyond that (which foothills, for example) are still lacking because we're still several days away from the possible storm.
Temperatures, however, will be the main question with this storm. If it's too warm, that could mean mostly rain instead of snow.
Areas east of the Interstate 25 urban corridor look likely to stay mostly if not entirely rain. Temperatures in Denver will likely be borderline – right around the freezing mark of 32 degrees. So a difference of a degree or two could mean a big change in the forecast.
Temperatures will depend on exactly where and how strong the area of low pressure is this weekend. So as usual, small fluctuations in the low's strength and placement will have a huge impact on our forecast.
A strong, March-like Pacific jet stream will serve as the main fuel for the storm. That will help draw up plenty of moisture from the south and east.
On top of that, a blocking ridge of high pressure east of Colorado will likely keep the area of low pressure spinning slowly over the southern plains, pumping that moisture into Colorado for a full day or even two.
This sort of setup is often the recipe for a bigger snowstorm in eastern Colorado; though, as mentioned, there are still plenty of questions.
Be extra careful with where you get your weather information over the next few days. Automated weather apps, in particular, will fluctuate wildly in their forecasts over the span of just a few hours. Make sure you're checking 9NEWS' latest forecast.
Until then, temperatures will be on the warm side, with highs likely to stay in the low 60s through at least Thursday in Denver.
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