Some Rain and Snow Around on Saturday; Keeping an Eye on Next Week

On Weather5280 Insider (Saturday 4:30pm): A swing and a...


As we discussed in our previous update, rain and snow chances are back in the forecast for northeast Colorado. Still not looking like a huge deal for most areas (some may not see anything at all), but a few bands of rain and snow are likely to peel off the mountains and spread across the plains late tonight and through the day Saturday.

Overall the disturbance seems to be coming in a bit faster than it looked a few days ago. This means snow snow across the northern and central mountains will be on the increase through the day and into tonight, with those showers spreading onto the plains as early as after midnight tonight. The best chance for rain and snow along the urban corridor at this time appears to be between 4am and noon Saturday, with the showers pushing east/southeast into Saturday afternoon.

A look at the GFS shows that it's bone dry for Denver, keeping the best chance for those rain/snow bands north of Denver and across the plains. Where exactly this expected band will end remains in question, however, as it could end up a bit further south (or north) depending on how much the system digs as it races across Colorado. For now, it looks like the best chance of snow will be between Denver and Fort Collins late tonight/Saturday morning, but those aren't 0% odds by any means if you live north or south of these cities.

Wherever that snow band ends up may see some light accumulation from it. Latest data indicates from a Trace to 1.5" will be possible, with a few models producing some 1 - 4" totals across the northeast plains from this band. I suspect any accumulation we see along the urban corridor will be on the low side, but bands... well, they can be sneaky.

Saturday also marks the start of a colder and more unsettled period that we expect may carry through to the end of the month. So, whether or not you see precip tonight/tomorrow or not, it'll be much colder Saturday than the mild weather we'll see today. The EURO is quite bullish on the cold... with highs Saturday in the 30s (in decent alignment with MOS guidance), then 40s for Sunday - Tuesday, before reinforcing cold air is possible by midweek next week.

The EURO here might be too cold... but takeaway here should be: colder weather, with a more active storm track is forecast starting tonight.

Of course, the buzz across eastern Colorado is not about this weekend, but the potential for a stronger storm next week. We'll have an update on this system later today for our Insiders (we hope you'll become one too!), but the long and the short of it is ... yes, the potential is there, but a lot of uncertainty remains. Good idea to keep an eye on the forecast for Christmas day and following couple of days as snow is likely to impact travel somewhere across the region during this period.