Snowfall Forecast
Significant snowstorm on the way for Denver area, FEET of snow likely for the foothills; Latest snowfall forecast & discussion
We're just hours away from the onset of a significant Colorado snowstorm set to bury the Front Range foothills in feet of snow, and possibly bringing upwards of 12" of snow to the Denver metro area. Impacts will be greatest at higher elevations west of Denver and Boulder and across the western Palmer Divide, but the cities are looking at a significant snow event as well, and travel from late tonight through Thursday will not be advised, and in all likelihood impossible in some locations as dee
Snowfall Forecast
Winter Storm Warnings posted for Denver area, snow storm moves into Colorado on Wednesday night, latest snowfall forecast
Our biggest storm since the Pi Day Blizzard of March 14, 2021 looks to be on track to arrive Wednesday night into Thursday... and fittingly, Thursday is the 3-year anniversary of that storm. This storm looks to begin impacting us Wednesday afternoon, potentially lasting into Friday morning south of the Palmer Divide. Let's get right into the details of this thing! Snowfall and timing Wednesday 9AM - 3PM Should be a fine start to Wednesday mo
Snowfall Forecast
Forecast update: Heavy snow, plentiful moisture looks increasingly likely for Denver, Front Range of Colorado
We continue to track the potential for a wet, heavy snowfall across the region for the latter half of the week. Of course, there remains uncertainty around the details, and like every system, this one has some unique pros and cons going for it. Still, guidance is supportive of plentiful moisture across the region and likely some good accumulating snow for some of us. On several measures, this setu
Denver Forecast
Denver Weather: System brings rain and snow with temperatures dropping all of Tuesday
There's a system set to arrive in the metro areas overnight through Tuesday, meanwhile the mountains are cashing in on snow from that system Monday. Meanwhile, Denver hits the 60s with this wind Monday prior to see a downhill trend all day Tuesday. Starting with the hourly temperatures, you'll see that downhill slide all of Tuesday. Although Monday is warm, that wind has a bit of a bite to it. While temperatures cool off Tuesday, more of that wind chill will be a factor. I certainly hope fires
Colorado Weather
Colorado weather: Wind, fire, and snow through Tuesday
After a very active start to February, we've really toned things down. We are now starting to see the atmosphere charge up again ahead of our next storm system set to move through Monday and Tuesday. Ahead of it, wind and fire danger concerns take us through the rest of the weekend, and on the back half, mountain snow developing Monday night, leading to a chance at some front range snow by Tuesday morning. Red Flag Warnings Today (pink) and Fire Weather Watches for Sunday (tan)Above is the curr
Denver Forecast
Colorado weather: Another mild afternoon in the forecast ahead of rain and snow showers across the state
Our mini-heatwave continues today as temperatures will again climb into the mid 60s along the Front Range ahead of a bit of change in the weather later today and for your Thursday. Temperatures on Tuesday were similarly warm across the region, with more than a handful of daily record highs being set across Colorado and the central plains states. This animation shows those locations that set records, or came close. For Denver, the high of 66°F on Tuesday was well shy of the record for the date
Weather5280 Insider
Transitioning from El Niño to La Niña and what that could mean for spring
We've been locked into El Niño conditions since last spring. Sea surface temperature anomalies have been much above average in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, but have recently really started to cool off. The El Niño peaked in late December and early January, and continues to weaken. Here is the equatorial sea surface temperature anomaly animation, during the past 90 days. This graphic represents the depth (0-450 meters) and east (120 degrees E) to west ( 80 degrees west) across the equatorial P
Snowfall Forecast
Colorado weather: Quick chance of snow Friday could bring accumulation to Denver, Front Range
We continue to track the week-end storm, which will bring pockets of good accumulating snow to the northern mountain to kick off the weekend, and it looks increasingly like a few bands of snow will develop along the hills Friday evening – with perhaps a few communities along the urban corridor picking up a quick 1 to 3" of snow under those bands. Here's the hourly planner for the Denver area, you can see it's a relatively brief window Friday afternoon/evening for that snow to occur, but a fair
Colorado Weather
After an active start to February, do we have any more left in the tank?
Back-to-back weekends in early February brought wintry weather to Colorado. Do we see any more on the way as we look forward? Our prospects don't look all that exciting, but the passage of a broken upper-level jet streak will provide the mountains with a chance of snow through this weekend, and might we manage a bit at lower elevations? Here is a look at the current basin-level snowpack, these are within a normal range but will decrease a bit with a calmer pattern for the next bit. What about
Colorado Snow
Saturday storm update: Impressive snow band overnight; how much snow to expect today
As we discussed last night , this system has had a few tricks up its sleeve. A snow band last night delivered the goods, and oh-how-close it was to finally delivering Fort Collins a boom! While Fort Collins did manage some accumulating snow as convective showers peeled off the hills, the main band setup just to the east of the city, extending from the northwest Denver suburbs up through G
Colorado Weather
Colorado weather: Next winter storm(s) is on the way, will deliver snow to much of the state
We're tracking more accumulating snow for much of the state Friday and into the weekend as more wet weather moves our way to end the week and our unsettled pattern continues. For the urban corridor that means an uptick in snow chances Friday, then again Friday night and Saturday before odds drop off Saturday night. Temperatures will cool into the low 40s Friday, and hover around freezing on Saturday with that off and on snowfall. The forecast remains a bit messy, even as we could see some fo
Denver Weather
Colorado weather: Tracking two systems to impact us with rain, snow, wind, and a cool down
A warm Tuesday is underway, occasionally breezy, but have you seen the additional cloud cover where you are? That's the next system, increasing moisture ahead of putting down heavy snow in parts of the mountains Wednesday and then rain and snow to parts of the plains. There is also a weekend system to put on your radar. Let's start with the near term. Here's an hourly planner for Denver going out 72 hours. Wednesday has the potential to be a touch warmer than Tuesday, but we see the chance for
Snowfall Totals
Colorado snow storm delivers heavy wet snow, plentiful moisture; A quick look ahead
A quick post this evening to share precipitation and snowfall totals from our storm yesterday. It was a wet one, really by any measure, but particularly for the first days of February. Denver International Airport picked up 5.5" of snow, we had forecast 2 - 6" for the city. The storm also delivered 0.76" of precipitation, which is nearly double the monthly average for the month of 0.41". Wow! AND DIA was some surprise (surprise) not all that representative of what we saw over the core of the c
Colorado Weather
Colorado weather: Who sees rain, who sees snow, and who sees nothing at all
We've been a bit quiet, but there hasn't been much to report on with regard to the upcoming system either. Most of what we outlined on Monday remains true, though the paths to a big time snow at lower elevations are certainly far fewer this morning vs what we were seeing in guidance a few days ago. But so it goes. The storm track has been relatively stabl
Colorado Weather
Monday AM update: Heavy rain and snow a possibility for Colorado next weekend, so too is a near-miss
We've been talking about the early days of February for a couple of weeks now on Weather5280, and for Insiders we had an update on what we're watching for the month yesterday as well. From a forecasting perspective, things certainly look "interesting", while the uncertainty remains quite high as to how things will ultimately pan out. We'll get in the weeds a bit here, and then breakdo
Denver Snow
Colorado weather: Wet snow possible Friday, huge thaw ahead
Well, depending on who you are, it's either been a good or bad thing that you haven't heard much from us lately. Mother nature won't throw much our way lately – we touched on a few things ahead in our update on Sunday , we'll dig into that again at the bottom half of this write up. Latest Colorado snowpack numbers, and what’s on tap for the remainder of the monthTemperature
Colorado Snowpack
Latest Colorado snowpack numbers, and what's on tap for the remainder of the month
Temperatures have warmed and the storm track has quieted after a pretty good stretch of winter over the first part of January across the region. Much of eastern Colorado is running from 8 - 12°F degrees below average through the first 20 days of the month. Last week's cold was impressive, and not just in our backyard but across much of the country as you can see below: We have also finally seen some meaningful snow across parts of the state, and after a dismal start to the new year for snowp
Colorado Weather
More heavy snow falling across the northern mountains; gusty winds and a few snow showers for the Front Range
We've got another system swinging through the state today and Thursday which will bring more wintry weather to parts of the state. The northern and central mountains will see another 1 to 2 feet of snow by the time things wrap up on Thursday, in particular across the higher terrain of the Gore and Park Ranges. For lower elevations, snow with this system will be sparse – in fact, the latest HRRR (below) shows nothing along the urban corridor through Friday morning. Still, some snow showers may
Arctic Cold
Colorado weather: Coldest night of the arctic outbreak tonight; how much additional snow to expect, and when it will end?
A good chilly morning to you all! We hope everyone is somewhere warm and safe this holiday Monday, and enjoying a wintry weather day that may be reminding some of you of the good ol' days in Colorado. ☃️ Here's a look at current temperatures across the northern high plains this morning – Colorado almost looks warm compared to our neighbors to the north, but look at those single digit values all the way down into Oklahoma this morning. Brr! The snow and cold has been real with this impressive
Denver Weather
Denver weather: Arctic cold to hang on through Monday, meanwhile mountains get dumped on with heavy snow and wind
We aren't going to rival the stretch of cold of 1983, but the next three days may end up somewhere in the top 30 of coldest three day stretches. The average high through Monday will be near 4 degrees is all! This list is of the coldest average high temperature of three day periods. If we truly average about 4 degrees, that puts Denver Area at the 25th coldest three day stretch on record. As of this post, Denver low temperature for today is -12 degrees, which is warmer than the -20 degree recor
Arctic Cold
Arctic cold headed to Colorado this weekend, big mountain snow, some Front Range snow as well
Winter will make itself known across Colorado this weekend! Several cold fronts, plenty of arctic cold, lots of mountain snow and a shot at some Front Range snow as well. Winter lovers, this is your kind of weather coming up. The 5-day temperature anomaly shows us that this is cold isn't just going to be a quick in-and-out type of event. It's likely that parts of eastern Colorado see 3 consecutive days of near and below zero wind chills – potentially dangerous stuff if exposed too long. A W
Denver Weather
Colorado snow and wind tonight, Monday
Another strong storm is taking shape over the four corners Sunday afternoon. While the pattern remains favorable, it seems like we'll have to wait for that elusive "big storm" that really clocks everyone. That being said, for some of the favorable spots in Colorado, along the front range and in the mountains, this is STILL going to bring some impacts. Another point to drive home: this storm has legs. It's not going to stick around for long. Snow is beginning to fall in the mountains here on S
Denver Weather
Multiple waves of snow to hit Colorado and parts of Denver metro area
We are almost to the weekend, and if you are a skier and plan to be on the hills, you'll see some freshies. If you aren't leaving the metro areas, you too have a chance of some snow. Here's a quick animation that shows areas of snow during the weekend. The images for Sunday are what catch my attention, with those deep blues indicating heavy snow over the mountains - a place desperately needing snow. A recent post about just that -> Snowpack numbers are dismal across Colorado and the West, wi
Colorado Springs Forecast
Focus of storm on Thursday will be across Southern Colorado, more snow for the weekend?
It still looks like a wintry weather pattern over the next 10 days, kicking things off tomorrow with some snow across parts the state, and cooler temperatures for everyone along the Front Range. Here's the latest 10-day temperature outlook for Denver from the ECMWF model: As mentioned, a storm system will impact mainly southern portions of the state with snow on Thursday, another storm system flies through Friday evening, and another is possible Sunday night and Monday – but that one has been
Colorado Snowpack
Snowpack numbers are dismal across Colorado and the West, will January deliver the goods?
It's the worst start to to a new year for snowpack across Colorado since 2018, with the median snowpack running at just 68% to start 2024. Ouch! The troublesome snowpack numbers aren't unique to Colorado either. Across the west we see the majority of basins running below average to date, and in perhaps a majority of cases well below that longterm average. Basins running 70% of better of median are in few company. This year's issue isn't just that it's been dry, but it's also been warm. What