Ready for more snow and cold?
After a record-breaking temperature drop and earlier-than-usual first snowfall fewer than two weeks ago, more snow could well be back in Denver’s forecast this week.
Computer models appear to be converging on the increased possibility of accumulating snow along the Front Range on Wednesday night into Thursday, including most, if not all, of the Denver metro area. While there’s still enough uncertainty that exact accumulations are difficult to pinpoint, it appears increasingly likely that most of the Denver area will wake up to at least some measurable snow on Thursday morning.
The storm system “will result in a significant amount of snowfall over the mountains and then out onto the plains,” the National Weather Service office in Boulder wrote in their forecast discussion on Sunday night.
As of Sunday night, both the GFS (American) and ECMWF (European) computer forecast models were showing a burst of heavier snow overnight Wednesday into Thursday. Both models were forecasting a few inches of accumulation for Denver, and possible disruptions to the Thursday morning commute.
As usual, the Front Range foothills stand to have the greatest chance at both accumulating snowfall and the highest amounts. That’s mainly due to the foothills’ higher elevation and favorable geography for receiving extra snow.
The storm responsible for the Thursday snow chance is expected to dive out of southern Canada on Tuesday, moving into Montana before sliding south through Wyoming on Wednesday. While the storm’s faster movement means that most areas won’t see more than a few inches of snowfall, there is plenty of energy and cold air with the system. Because of the storm’s likely track east of the mountains, moisture-laden air backing against the mountains — known as upslope flow — could help draw out some bands of locally higher snowfall amounts. Again, this type of possible setup could help to boost amounts for the Front Range foothills in particular.
The storm, however, will quickly move out of the area on Thursday, leading to much calmer weather by the end of the week. Most of the Eastern Plains should quickly bounce back into the 60s and perhaps 70s by Friday and Saturday.
Looking ahead, though, and there’s a chance that the Denver area could see more accumulating snow this weekend. Computer models are hinting that yet another sharp cold front will move through eastern Colorado on Saturday night or Sunday, bringing with it the chance for more accumulating snow. At this time, it’s too early to go into specifics on possible snow amounts or timing. This storm, though, looks even colder than this week’s system — a possible indicator that snow may be in the offing.
Weekend snow or not, at the very least, it’s looking like the month of October will finish with unseasonably cold temperatures. The Climate Prediction Center’s (CPC) eight- to 14-day outlook product puts all of Colorado in the highly likely to see colder-than-average temperatures for the final days of October and the beginning of November.
