Old man winter is waking with the first cold front of the season heading towards Telluride and the mountains of Colorado. Could be a good weekend for looking at Real Estate….
LIGHT SNOW RETURNS TO THE ROCKIES
A wet pattern for the end of this week is evolving as moisture from the Baja streams north into the 4 corners and heads towards northern Utah, Wyoming and south central Montana. Warm moist air will bring decent rainfall to many areas on Thursday with colder air on it’s heels for Friday/Saturday.
Cold air will stream down from Canada (Light snow likely in the interior BC region) and provide snow above 7,000 feet to many areas beginning late Thursday night in the Tetons, Wasatch and South central Montana. Winds shift from the SW Thursday to the West or NW by Friday in many areas. Light snow will be falling above 7,000 feet Friday and Saturday and extend primarily into Colorado favoring areas along or north of I-70.
Expect widespread areas of 1-4 inches from the highest peaks of the Tetons and Glacier National Park with perhaps up to 5-7 inches in the highest peaks of the Uinta’s or Wasatch. Colorado will be in the 1-4 inch range at the highest elevations by Saturday mid morning. Areas above 10,000 feet may see higher amounts.
“A stronger and colder storm system will move into the forecast area from the west northwest, bringing windy, cooler, wet weather for Thursday and Friday.” – NWS Grand Junction
This is not an overly cold system and has lots of warm moist air ahead of the cold front. The snow that falls will be with the wind shifts late this week. In Montana we see Easterly flow ahead of the Northerly push of cold air. That might enhance upslope conditions and rainfall before things switch over to wet snow at the tail end of the event.