Edit: Holy moly! Way more snow than expected! The model runs late last night did a bit better with snow totals, but they still underproduced. We’ve been dry lately so I can’t argue with some extra snow.

After a bit of moderate weather over the last few days, we’re heading into another arctic air outbreak that will bring us some snowfall along the front range and low temperatures in below zero with pretty severe wind chills. So, if you’re embarking on a journey away from your home to buy Christmas presents, go to the Broncos game, or just down the street to get groceries, be prepared for slippery conditions and very cold temperatures!

Today’s forecast will be broken into the following sections-

Current Conditions Storm System Timing Expected Low Temperatures Expected Snow Totals Summary

Current Conditions

As you can see in the plot above, we experienced a powerful cold front at 7am that dropped temperatures around the metro area 20°F in the course of about thirty minutes. Along with the cold front came some intense winds that are gusting up to 25mph at the airport and are causing wind chill temperatures that hover right around zero. Currently there aren’t a lot of clouds hovering overhead and there aren’t any snowflakes to be be seen… yet.

Storm System Timing

Obviously, we’ve already started down the path of our winter storm with the cold front that passed through earlier this morning. As we continue through the day, our sunny skies will change to that familiar grey that means snow is on its way. Sunset is currently looking to be the time when cloud cover and chance for snowfall really increases. Snowfall around Denver will begin this evening and will continue through tomorrow morning. The frigid temperatures, however, will be sticking around all weekend until we return to highs in the 40s on Monday.

Expected Low Temperatures

Low temperatures are expected to be between 0°F and -5°F for most of the metro area tonight with wind chills that could reach as low as -20°F. Saturday night is expected to be a few degrees colder, but winds are expected to be lighter which means wind chills should remain roughly the same. At this point in time, it looks like our low temperatures will be a few degrees warmer than the record lows for the metro area but there’s always a possibility that will change. Regardless of whether they’re record-breaking or not, please keep your pets inside, dress in layers, and have an emergency kit in your car with a blanket. It doesn’t pay to gamble with these cold temperatures!

Expected Snow Totals

This storm is shaping up to be similar to the last arctic storm that we had which means that we’re looking at 1-3″ for most areas (I know, it’s not thrilling). Denver and the immediately surrounding cities should expect 1-3″ while areas to the south and west can expect 2-4″. Contrary to popular belief, lower temperatures do not mean more snow. In fact, it’s the opposite. Cold air cannot hold as much moisture as warm air and so we get small accumulations with arctic storm systems. This is also why we get lots of snow from our spring blizzards, the warmer air can hold more moisture and dump it on us!

Regardless of how much snow we get, it could be very icy on the roads tomorrow.

Summary

Snow will start this evening and will continue through Saturday morning with accumulations for most areas around 1-4″. Temperatures will continue to fall over the next two days and many areas will see below-zero temperatures tonight and Saturday night. Wind chills will be extreme and could be as low as -20°F overnight, which means that precautions should be taken if you need to go outside. These severe low temperatures will continue through Sunday, but 40s will return on Monday.

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you have any questions!

-Andrew