Denver, Colorado Rockies to get 1-2 rounds of accumulating snow this week
Two storms with snow will affect parts of the Rockies this week, and at least one of the storms will bring accumulating snow to the Denver metro area, AccuWeather meteorologists say. Where the two storms overlap, up to several feet of snow may fall on some locations in the central and southern Rockies.
The first storm will dive southeastward through the Rockies through Wednesday and will spread steady snow and much cooler air over a large part of Colorado and the central Rockies.
"Due to the quick speed of the storm and a lack of moisture, there will likely be around 3 inches of snow in the Denver area, but higher elevations to the south of the city, including the Palmer Divide, may end up with a general 3-6 inches of snow," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson said.
As is usually the case with early-season snowfall, the mountains and Colorado ski areas will see the most snowfall, with a foot or more of powdery snow.
"Even the Interstate 25 corridor from Pueblo to Trinidad, Colorado, should pick up some accumulation with slippery travel in some areas," Anderson said.
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Motorists traveling through the region, especially through Wednesday morning, should be prepared for slow travel and delays due to snow-covered roads and reduced visibility.
"With this being the first significant snowfall outside of the mountains, there may be more fender benders than usual, as people may not yet be in winter driving mode or their tires may not be up to winter standards," Anderson cautioned.
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A second and stronger storm may bring even heavier snowfall to portions of Colorado and the central and southern Rockies from Thursday through Saturday.
The exact track of that storm will be critical as to the amount of snow that falls in cities such as Denver and Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Where snowfall from both storms overlaps in the mountains from southern and central Colorado to northern New Mexico, 1-3 feet of snow is likely to fall in total this week, with locally higher amounts possible.
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Snow showers or mixed rain and snow may dip as far to the south as the intermediate elevations around Albuquerque, New Mexico, later this week.
Denver, as well as other cities along the High Plains and foothills of the Colorado Rockies, tend to get a large portion of their annual snowfall during the autumn and spring, rather than the middle of the winter. This is due to the proximity of the jet stream and the availability of moisture in the fall and spring. In the middle of the winter, the jet stream and moisture tend to reside south of Colorado.
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As the two storms conglomerate over the south-central United States later this week and this weekend, a new zone of torrential rain and flash flooding will likely develop. This zone may initially include areas from central Texas to southern Nebraska before shifting eastward.
As moisture from the budding tropical storm in the Caribbean feeds into this, more zones of torrential rain and flooding may develop in the South Central and Southeastern states.
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