Marty’s Saturday Morning Forecast – Snow Developing – 1/9/2021
Overview: A storm will bring colder air and snow to the area this weekend. Next week looks warmer and dry with periods of clouds and wind.
Today: Cloudy & colder with snow developing over and near the mountains this morning, then spreading east/southeast through the afternoon. For most areas, the snowfall rates should remain light to moderate and the snow shouldn’t be terribly wet. There will be some wind with this storm, mainly over southern parts of our coverage area, but widespread, significant blowing and drifting snow does not appear likely. Travelers should expect slick roadways as the day progresses as temperatures will hover in the 20s and 30s at best today, so even light snow will likely whiten roadways pretty quickly.
Tonight: Snow will continue to fall tonight for many areas, and for our major population centers (Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Canon City, Woodland Park) it appears likely that between about 2” and 4” of snow will fall through late tonight or very early Sunday morning. Heavier snowfall accumulations are more likely over southern parts of our coverage area, particularly near the Sangre De Cristo Mountains along and south of highway 160 where 4” to 8” of snow or more could fall. Communities on the east facing slopes of the Wet Mountains and the Raton Mesa could also receive localized, heavier accumulations of snow with this system, perhaps up to as much as 6”. The plains east of the I-25 corridor will likely receive lighter accumulations of snow on the order of 1” to 3” at most with the lightest amounts occurring farther east. By morning, the air will have cooled into the teens and 20s for most areas, but the high mountain valleys will be colder. Expect slick roadways for most areas tonight.
Sunday: Any leftover snow showers over southern parts of our coverage area will end early, and all areas will have decreasing clouds through the morning. Sunday afternoon looks partly cloudy to mostly sunny and breezy at times with high temperatures only in the 30s for most areas.
Extended: We expect a warming trend to begin on Monday and continue through at least Thursday. We expect mountain wave clouds to filter the sun at times through the week, and occasionally we’ll have some wind, especially on Thursday. A shallow layer of colder air should sideswipe the area on Friday bringing some colder air and possibly a period of low clouds to parts of eastern Colorado. Saturday should be warmer and dry.
