Arctic cold blast sets in Friday, with wind chills of -30 degrees possible through Tuesday

Bitter cold is right around the corner for Denver, the Front Range and all of the state east of Interstate 25 as an arctic blast moves south into the state Friday evening.

Forecasters at the National Weather Service in Boulder said negative-degree low temperatures are likely through Tuesday and expect wind chills in some areas to get as low as -30 degrees. A wind chill warning goes into effect Friday night and will last until 11 a.m. Tuesday.

The Arctic blast moving in from Montana will reach Colorado’s northern border by Friday afternoon and push into Denver and the plains by the evening.

Denver will see a “warmer” Friday before its arrival with a high of 35 degrees, but “fronts like this are notorious for arriving early, so we`ll continue to monitor that potential,” forecasters said.

Friday night’s low in Denver is set at -5 degrees.

Saturday’s high temperature is 5 degrees, and Saturday’s low is -6 degrees. Sunday’s high is 11 degrees, and Sunday’s low is -4 degrees.

Monday is likely to be the coldest day, with a high of 4 degrees and a low of -7 degrees. Denver could potentially tie the daily record low max temperature on Monday, Jan. 15, which was 2 degrees in 1930, forecasters said.

Each night, wind gusts could be as strong as 30 mph, so there is high confidence that wind chills of -20 to -30 degrees will happen, forecasters said in the wind chill warning.

The dangerously cold wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes, forecasters warn.

With the arrival of the cold blast also comes snow, and Denver could see a couple inches of snowfall by Saturday morning. Snow potential in the metro area continues at least slightly through Monday.

In the high country, which won’t be as affected by the arctic blast, heavy snow and wind gusts of up to 70 mph in some areas could cause blowing snow and near-impossible travel conditions.

Up to 18 inches of snow could fall by Saturday during the day, forecasters said in a winter storm warning, but while that snow may taper off Saturday, another round of even heavier snow is likely to develop Saturday night and continue through Sunday.

Forecasters at the National Weather Service in Grand Junction said snowfall in the northern and central mountains could exceed two feet in the second wave of snowfall.

Across the state, weather conditions will become moderate by Tuesday, with sunny forecasts in most areas and above-freezing temperatures returning to Denver.