WEATHER ALERT DAY: High winds in Pikes Peak Region before big drop in temperatures
Overview: Winter driving conditions are expected to continue over the high country today where a combination of heavy snow and gusty wind will make for very difficult driving conditions over the higher mountain passes. Locally, we’re tracking significantly colder air and a chance for a brief snowfall in spots today, but warmer air will return soon.
Today: Becoming partly to mostly cloudy, windy, and colder with scattered snow showers or brief bursts of wind driven snow possible, mainly over and near the mountains or along the Palmer Divide where localized areas could receive a quick inch or so mid-morning through early this afternoon. Although accumulations of snow, should they occur, will remain rather light over eastern Colorado, under any heavier bursts of snow, visibility could temporarily be very low due to strong wind and blowing snow. The clouds should gradually decrease from west to east as the afternoon progresses. Temperatures during the day will range from the 20s and 30s for the mountains, high mountain valleys and the Pikes Peak Region to the 40s and 50s over the plains along and south of the Arkansas River. Wind gusts over 30 mph will make for a very blustery day everywhere.
Tonight: Becoming mostly clear with gradually decreasing wind tonight. By morning, the air should have chilled into the single digits and teens for most areas, but the high mountain valleys will fall well below zero.
Extended: Saturday should start chilly, but during the afternoon the air should warm into 40s for many areas under a partly cloudy sky. Sunday will be partly cloudy and breezy to windy at times with high temperatures back into the 50s and 60s for the plains with 40s over the mountains and high mountain valleys. The air should remain relatively warm through early Wednesday, but we expect breezy conditions with the wind getting strong Wednesday and Wednesday night as colder air arrives again. Like today’s system, most of the precipitation with the mid-week cold front looks to fall as snow over the mountains along the Continental Divide, but it’s possible brief snow showers could also develop over and near the eastern mountains. Thursday and Friday look cooler, but dry.
