Arctic Front Takes Aim at Colorado

It's about to get very chilly in Colorado. 12z models continue to bring isolated single digits to communities up and down the Front Range by early Friday morning. Take a look at this air mass that is wedging itself southward toward Colorado.

In addition to the cold, this will likely be our best chance for snow this season. All models have measurable snowfall in Denver, even our friend the NAM. With these favorable models in mind, we have opted to lower the Bust Index a bit today, but we are generally keeping with our original forecast from several days ago of 2 - 4 inches through Friday morning in Denver.

It is worth noting, however, that many of the models actually went up with QPF this morning. This jump has helped to bolster confidence in the possibility of snow -- but it also reminds us to emphasize that some locals may actually 'bust high' in this event should the right ingredients come together today. This is something we will watch closely over the next 12 hours and adjust numbers as necessary.

Heavy snow for southwest Colorado
There's big time snow on the way for portions of the high country with this system. The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for the West Elk Range, San Juans, Telluride, Crested Butte, and, well, most of southwest Colorado through Friday. FreshyMap has upwards of 20 inches in the forecast for Purgatory, with more than 15 inches on the way for Telluride and Silverton. Snow!

While this storm will favor southwest Colorado, the mountains to the west of Denver will do okay as well. Arapahoe Basin, which picked up 2 inches of snow overnight Tuesday, should expect another round of snow as well, with up to 8 inches possible by Friday.

It's that time of year again folks, enjoy the blast of winter, and stay tuned for all the latest as we head into the next 12 to 48 hours!