How Cold, Snowy Will It Get During This Weekend’s Arctic Blast?

On By Littum

Colorado is set to see a freezing weekend as snow and a bitterly cold blast of arctic air moves into the state on Friday, according to the National Weather Service.

Wednesday and Thursday will be the last semi-warm days before temperatures start to drop, NWS forecasters said.

The snow comes on Friday

Light snowfall will begin in the Colorado mountains around 11 a.m. Friday, move into the Denver area in the afternoon and reach the eastern plains by evening, according to NWS forecasts.

Downtown Denver and Denver International Airport should expect between 4 and 6 inches of snowfall Friday and Saturday, according to NWS Snow Forecasts.

The snow forecast on Thursday morning also called for:

  • Up to 5 inches in Brighton;
  • Up to 6 inches in Aurora, Broomfield, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, Centennial, Littleton, Northglenn and Parker;
  • Up to 7 inches in Arvada, Highlands Ranch and Lakewood;
  • Up to 11 inches on Berthoud Pass;
  • Up to 10 inches in Rocky Mountain National Park, including Trail Ridge Road, Milner Pass and Cameron Pass;
  • Up to 8 inches in northern Colorado’s Park Range Mountains;
  • Up to 7 inches at Eisenhower Tunnels, Loveland Pass and Keystone Mountain.

Temperatures across the state will dip into the single digits overnight Friday, NWS forecasters said.

Cooler Saturday temperatures signal Denver’s first sub-zero weather of the season

As temperatures begin to drop on Friday, they will not rise again until Tuesday.

Saturday will mark Denver’s first chance for freezing temperatures of the season, according to NWS forecasters. Although the snow will settle around 11 a.m., temperatures won’t rise above the teens in the metro area and could drop to around minus 2 degrees overnight.

The Eastern Plains will experience similar overnight lows of minus 2. Wind chills over the Front Range and Eastern Plains could make it feel as cold as 13 degrees below zero.

In the mountains, snow will continue to fall throughout the day and overnight Saturday, forecasters said. Temperatures will drop to minus 6 overnight before any wind chill.

Northern Colorado, including Waldenwill see temperatures as low as 14 degrees below zero overnight Saturday, according to NWS forecasters. With the wind chill it will feel like minus 24, said forecasters.

Snow, negative temperatures return on Sunday

Snow will return to the Front Range and Eastern Plains on Sunday, but little or no new accumulation is expected, NWS forecasters said.

Most of the state will see highs between 10 and 12 degrees Sunday before falling back into or near the negatives, forecasters said.

According to NWS forecasters coldest wind chill will be Sunday to Tuesday morning.

Denver will experience a high of 11 degrees and overnight temperatures as low as minus 5 degrees, according to NWS forecasters. With wind chill, temperatures will feel as low as minus 12 degrees.

The eastern plains are expected to hit minus 10 degrees on Sunday evening, and the mountains will experience low temperatures between minus 1 and minus 8.

In the plains — including Limon, Julesburg and Sterling — the wind chill will drop real-world temperatures about 10 degrees, up to 20 degrees below zero, forecasters said.

The western slope, including Delta and Cedaredge, is unlikely to escape the weekend without temperatures dipping below zero. The area is expected to scrape by with overnight temperatures of around 1 degree.

Monday will be the coldest day of the weekend’s winter weather

The coldest day of the Arctic blast will be Monday, when “highs may struggle to get much above freezing.” NWS forecasters said.