(SOUTHERN COLORADO) — Thursday, April 17 will feature strong wind gusts and high fire danger over the entire region.
Wind will pick up quickly between 9 a.m. and noon. The strongest wind will be over the San Luis Valley and southern foothills, where some gusts may exceed 60 MPH. In the cities, we may get a window in the middle of the day where some neighborhoods get gusts over 50 MPH. It’s been dry enough lately that there may be some blowing dust around, too.
A cold front arrives overnight, and between midnight and sunrise, snow is expected to develop over the Palmer Divide.
Temperatures will only be a couple of degrees below freezing as the day begins, so motorists are more likely to encounter reduced visibility from big, wet flakes versus snow sticking to the Interstate and other roads.
Precipitation will spread across the remainder of the region on Friday, with parts of the plains from Pueblo eastward expected to see rain initially.
There may even be a rumble of thunder somewhere over the plains. The snow level will drop to around 4,000 feet by Saturday morning, so everyone should see a changeover to winter weather. By Saturday afternoon, the heaviest snow will be south of Highway 50 as the snow begins to lighten and break up over northern areas before moving east of the Front Range Saturday night.
Elevation plays a very important role in late-season storms regarding snow amounts. Our local mountain areas, from Pikes Peak to the Wet Mountains and the Spanish Peaks, are likely to see between 10-18″ of snow. Most mountain communities can expect somewhere between 5″ and 12″, depending on elevation and location.
A significant transition area exists along the Front Range. The lower you are, the less snow you should expect, and the less impact on the roads. The higher you are, the inverse is true.
The window for the most significant travel impacts where snow ends up sticking to the roads will be Friday night and early Saturday. The heavy, wet nature of the snow puts trees that have leafed out at risk of breaking if the snow is significant enough or the tree is weak or unhealthy.
