Winter Storm Watch for Eastern Colorado

Includes the Denver Metro Area and Colorado Springs

All ingredients are coming together for an early season significant snow event across eastern Colorado along the I-25 corridor from Colorado Springs to the Wyoming border, the Foothills and the central Rockies. While temperatures today are near record highs a BIG change is coming Tuesday night through Wednesday night along the I-25 corridor from southeastern Wyoming into Eastern Colorado.

A strong cold front will be sliding southward along the eastern slopes of the Rockies on Tuesday and at the same time a surface low with upper level support will be spinning up over northern New Mexico.

The wind flow will turn northeasterly and mix in moisture from the south that the surface low will send northward and you have a perfect set up for SNOW.

Snow is likely from southeast Wyoming to Colorado Springs beginning late Tuesday near the Colorado/Wyoming state line and sliding southward into Wednesday. Heavy, wet snow will accumulate 5 to 10 inches along the I-25 corridor from Colorado Springs to Ft. Collins, Colorado. Amounts in excess of a foot are likely for portions of the Foothills up along the spine of the Colorado Rockies. For this reason Winter Storm Watches are in effect for Tuesday night into Wednesday.

Click For Latest Information from the National Weather Service

This storm system will be a player for most of us from along the Rockies to the East Coast as we head through the week. The cold front mentioned above will slide through the midsection of the nation and into the Ohio River Valley, Tuesday into Wednesday. The surface low that will help to bring the moisture needed for the Colorado snow will gradually eject eastward along the cold front through Thursday. Two pieces of upper level energy will feed into the storm and that will allow the storm to drag more cold air into it and entrain more Gulf of Mexico moisture into it as well. This will set up the potential for the season's first accumulating snow from eastern Ohio into New England, Friday night through Sunday.

The exact location of the cold front, forecast position and strength of the low and amount of available moisture will be watched closely to help nail down potential snowfall amounts but the potential exists for a wide swath of 3"+.