It's "not out of the question" that the San Juan Mountains might get a foot or two of fresh snow, and the southern lowlands could get another 6-10 inches "before all is said and done," according to the National Weather Service in Grand Junction on Monday morning.
Cities including Aspen, Vail, Snowmass, Ridgway, Glade Park, Telluride, Ouray, and Lake City, as well as the central mountain valleys, will be impacted by winter weather advisories from 11 a.m. Tuesday through 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Forecasters have warned that ridge tops and mountain passes, in particular, may have "substantially reduced visibility" due to patchy blowing snow, so mountain residents should prepare for hazardous driving conditions.
That system will reach the I-25 corridor by Tuesday afternoon, but forecasts caution that the timing is still somewhat uncertain. From late Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday afternoon, the NWS has issued a winter storm watch for the I-25 corridor, which stretches from Fort Collins to just north of Colorado Springs and then east to the state line between Nebraska and Kansas.
The storm system is predicted to deliver heavy snow to parts of eastern Colorado on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, with accumulations of 5 to 10 inches probable along the I-25 corridor and perhaps higher totals of up to 10 inches on the extreme northeast plains.
Forecasters have predicted wind gusts of up to 35 miles per hour. Greg Heavener from NOAA described the range of precipitation expected in Denver on Monday afternoon. He predicted a 9/10 likelihood of more than 3 inches of snow and a 1/10 chance of more than 11 inches.
Heavener warned that although the mountains and foothills won't see any significant wind, the east might get gusts of 35 to 37 mph. The National Weather Service (NWS) warned that mountain commuters on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning might face treacherous conditions and that the effects could linger into the evening.
In the Denver metro area, Fort Collins, the northeastern plains, the Palmer Divide, and the Foothills, the commute on Tuesday evening will be somewhat difficult due to worsening road conditions.
The National Weather Service recently issued an alert suggesting that Wednesday morning may be a good time to stay home from work and relax with a cup of coffee.
Heavener said the snow will begin falling about midnight on Tuesday and last until midday on Wednesday.
Heavener predicted that the northern I-25 corridor will begin to dry up by Wednesday afternoon and evening, marking the end of the statewide snowfall.
By Friday, a different system will attempt to move into our region, but the storm is weakening and moving farther south, so its effects on the Denver metropolitan area are expected to be modest.
The remainder of the week will see temperatures in the 30s and a relatively calm weekend, but NWS forecasts have predicted another storm for early next week.
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