Today’s Forecast:
In an update from the morning, snow is still expected in two rounds. Most accumulation is still expected overnight to Saturday morning. Scattered, wet snow showers will fall across El Paso and Teller counties during the evening commute, but the main accumulating band that arrives late tonight is now packing a much bigger punch. Strong winds with gusts in the 40 or more mph range will complicate the forecast further, making any very late or early morning drives slow from low visibility. Expected snow totals over northern El Paso and Teller counties have increased, see below for updated details.
COLORADO SPRINGS: High – 38; Low – 20. Wet snow, mixed with rain across central and southern Springs, arrives around 5 pm tonight and will last off and on through the evening commute. The bigger band of accumulating snow will start ramping up around 8 to 9 am and blow hard across the city through 6 am Saturday morning. Totals across downtown look to be around 1 to 3 inches, Briargate will range from 2 to 4 inches with a few pockets across town possibly seeing near 5 inches.
PUEBLO: High – 44; Low – 24. Pueblo falls in the dry slot of this system for most of the evening, leaving only a few scattered rain showers at best to affect the evening commute. Snow will eventually move down from the Springs sometime after 10 pm. Snow will start as a rain and then quickly turn to wet snow by midnight with snow continuing to fall through 6 to 7 am. Snow totals should range from 1 to 3 inches across the city.
CANON CITY: High – 41; Low – 26. A wintry mix shows up by the start of the evening commute and turns quickly to a snow by 5 to 6 pm. Totals over Canon City still appear to be fairly light, but overnight blowing snow could dump anywhere from a dusting to 2 inches over town with dry skies by 5 to 6 am.
WOODLAND PARK: High – 36; Low – 14. Wet snow is still set to arrive around 4 pm today and fall off and on through 8 pm. Evening commutes will be affected and highway 24 through Ute Pass to Woodland Park will likely be slick and slow. The bigger and more dangerous snow arrives from 9 am through early Saturday morning, with heavy blowing snow and gusts into the 30 mph range. Snow totals by 5 am Saturday will range from 3 to 7 inches across Teller county, with Woodland Park itself likely somewhere around 4 to 6 inches through town.
TRI-LAKES: High – 30s; Low – 10s. Snow starts to arrive by 5 pm tonight, meaning any commutes through town and over Monument Hill could get slick quickly as the evening commute goes on. Very heavy, blowing snow will start slamming into Monument Hill and the Tri-Lakes area around and after 8 pm tonight. Dry skies will be around by 6 am Saturday morning with new expected snow totals between 3 to 7 inches, slightly more is possible just north towards the county line and Larkspur.
PLAINS: High – 40s; Low – 20s. Rain will start to arrive to the plains east of El Paso and Pueblo counties around and after midngiht with a quick transition to snow from west to east by 2 am. Winter Storm Warnings are in effect for Kiowa, Bent, Prowers, Baca and eastern Las Animas county, where winds to and over 40 to 50 mph will blow with very heavy snow. Totals around La Junta will be between 2-5″ while Springfield, Lamar to Eads will see anything between 3 to 6 inches by the time the snow stops around noon on Saturday.
WALSENBURG/TRINIDAD: High – 40s; Low – 20s. Isolated showers in the afternoon are possible but the bigger wave of snow comes later today, after a cold front slams in from the north, bringing with it 30 to 40 mph gusts. A changeover to snow will arrive around 9 to 10 pm with the heavy snow from midnight to 8 am Saturday morning. A range of 2 to 4 inches are expected from Walsenburg to Trinidad with the bigger totals out east along highway 160 in Las Animas county.
EXTENDED OUTLOOK:
Strong winds slam through Colorado tonight, making any late drives through slow dangerous for drifting roads and low visibility through Saturday morning, especially across the eastern plains. The sun will return quickly from the I-25 corridor and then east as the morning goes on, meaning we’ll see snow melt and a great afternoon! Temperatures rebound back into the 40s by Monday with high 50s and a few 60s by Tuesday.
