DENVER (CBS4) – The first three days of this week will be beautiful. Sunny skies, light winds, and high temperatures in the 70s. Then a blast of winter weather arrives Wednesday night.

Temperatures on Monday will be at least 10 degrees warmer than Sunday with highs in the lower and middle 70s.

Tuesday will be even warmer with 80 degrees possible in some neighborhoods along the Front Range. Then Wednesday should top out in the upper 70s ahead of an arctic cold front on track to arrive Wednesday night.

Initially the precipitation associated with the storm system will be rain but should rapidly change into snow even at lower elevations by early Thursday morning. Temperatures will drop into the 20s in the metro area for the Thursday morning commute It will be the first widespread freeze of the season and the first official freeze for Denver.

Between now and Wednesday evening, Front Range residents with sprinkler systems are urged to blow out their systems or at least drain them to prevent damage.

The various weather models are in generally good agreement on snowfall amounts with this storm but vary with the timing. Some models suggest most of the snow, which could be heavy at times, will fall early in the day on Thursday while other suggest it will be later in the day. Regardless, we expect the Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins areas to see 1-4 inches of falling snow. However, because the roads will be so warm, that much snow may not necessary accumulate on road surfaces.

Meanwhile the higher foothills and mountains (above 7,000 feet) will see 3 to 6 inches while the Eastern Plains will likely see anywhere from a trace to 2 inches.

The snow will end by early Friday and then our attention will turn to the cold. Friday morning temperatures will be frigid for October with teens in most areas. It will be the coldest weather in Denver in nearly 6 months.

Then sunny and much weather weather will arrive for the weekend with highs in the 60s and temperatures likely staying above freezing by Sunday morning.