Denver, CO
Denver could see first snow Sunday night, plus more next week
Denver’s first dusting of snow will likely fall this weekend, with forecasters predicting less than half an inch of the stuff will stick around Sunday night.
Saturday is expected to be mild and sunny, bringing a high of 65 and a low of 38 overnight, according to the National Weather Service.
On Sunday, temperatures will drop from 58 degrees during the day to just below freezing overnight. Rain is forecast before midnight, giving way to snow that will continue into Monday morning.
After the weather clears up Monday afternoon, the snow could return Wednesday and later in the week, along with highs in the 30s and 40s, and lows in the 20s.
On average, Denver sees its first flakes around Oct. 18, with the earliest recorded snow date being Sept. 3 in 1961 and the latest being Dec. 10 in 2021. Last year, the first snowfall of the season was recorded Oct. 28.
Denver’s first freeze was also late this year, arriving Oct. 25, or about two and a half weeks later than the average first freeze date.
Metro Denver residents will see rain through the middle of May — probably not enough to reverse the drought — and any snow during this week’s cool spell likely will stay in Colorado’s mountains and foothills, according to the National Weather Service.
But Colorado and Denver have a history of May snowstorms, and “it can happen,” NWS meteorologist Russell Danielson said on Monday.
“There’s a slight, very small possibility of a few flakes falling overnight tonight with no accumulation expected,” Danielson said. “And, then, there’s another very slight chance Thursday night – again, with no accumulation expected,” he said.
The cooler weather that reached the Colorado Front Range on Sunday morning is expected to bring significant snow at elevations above 6,000 feet. In metro Denver, temperatures peaked at around 53 degrees on Monday, and NWS forecast afternoon thunderstorms.
In the mountains, snow showers will create hazardous travel conditions — poor visibility and slippery roads, especially on passes at higher elevations, NWS forecasters said. They issued a winter weather advisory for the north central mountains and anticipated mountain snow accumulations up to 8 inches by Tuesday morning.
Looking ahead, meteorologists predicted moisture in metro Denver over the next two weeks, shifting to warmer conditions through the end of July. That may bring relief after an exceptionally dry winter and early spring. Colorado mountain snowpack ranked as the lowest in recent history, and Denver temperatures in March – typically a month that brings heavy snow — broke records, topping 80 degrees.
“We have varying levels of severe to exceptional drought across the Denver area and the Front Range mountains,” Danielson said.
“Through about May 10, we expect multiple rounds of precipitation. That can, hopefully, lead to a little green-up,” he said. “But, then, from the second half of May through the end of July, it will look particularly hot and dry. We’re still expecting an above-normal fire weather season.”
On Sunday, up to a quarter inch of rain fell on parts of north metro Denver.
The rain this week is shaping up as “the best over the past five months,” climatologist Allie Mazurek said at the Colorado Climate Center on the Colorado State University campus in Fort Collins. But “our deficits are quite major, stacking up over months.” The statewide average mountain snowpack this week measured 15% of the average between 1991 and 2020, Mazurek said.
“Everywhere, we’re seeing below-average stream flow. And that’s expected to continue through summer,” she said.
“The only snow left is at high elevations above 10,000 feet. We’re in a bad place with our drought. We’ll take any moisture at this point,” she said. “But to turn our situation around, we would need a changed weather pattern over a long period of time, not just a couple of weeks.”
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