Snow will be back across the state this weekend with a winter storm rolling through Colorado Friday evening.
The storm will be primarily hitting northern Colorado with the northern mountains receiving up to 13 inches of snow over the weekend, but according to Maggie Ideker, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, the rest of the state will also be in for a snowy weekend.
The Denver metro and Eastern Plains are expected to receive about 2-3 inches. The snow there is expected to stop by Sunday afternoon.
Conditions will also be slightly warmer than last weekend’s subzero arctic blast. Across most of the state, temperatures will be in the twenties on Saturday, with Sunday being slightly warmer in the thirties.
With heavy snow coming and a packed weekend of activities in the high country — everything from the International Ice Sculpture Championships in Breckenridge, to the X Games in Aspen, to the Ouray Ice Festival — Austyn Dineen, a spokesperson for Colorado Department of Transportation, advises people make a travel plan ahead of time and check COTrip for road and traffic conditions.
“So if you're trying to travel to any of those events and CDOT’s snow staying busting shuttle opportunities are really a good way to get out of that bumper to bumper and sit and relax in a comfy seat is another alternative rather than driving,” said Dineen.
According to Dineen, the worst traffic conditions are expected Friday evening with the evening commute and Saturday morning with ski traffic — particularly westbound along the I-70 corridor from Denver to the mountains.
So far, Colorado’s mountain snowpack is right around normal for this time of year, despite the lack of snow in December. However, Aldis Strautins, a senior hydrologist with the National Weather Service, says that the southwestern part of the state is the exception.
“Southwestern Colorado is standing out and the Four Corners area is below normal right now,” Strautins told CPR News. “These [winter storm] systems haven't touched them, they've kind of hit more of the central and northern part of the Colorado Rockies.”
According to Strautins, while the arctic blast last weekend definitely helped boost Colorado’s mountain snowpack, the majority of the credit goes to consistent, smaller storms that have added snow to the mountains.
