The Colorado Rockies could see up to 8 inches of snow from a quick-hitting storm

Colorado’s central mountains are in line for a quick burst of snow starting Wednesday afternoon, and the highest forecast from the National Weather Service in Grand Junction is up to 8 inches above 10,000 feet. Rain falls in the valleys while the high country whitens, and the system is expected to be gone by Thursday morning. Offices in Boulder and Pueblo are forecasting smaller totals for their own mountain zones.

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The storm is small, fast and sensitive to its track, which makes the spread between offices as informative as any single number.

Grand Junction’s advisory for the Elk Mountains and central corridor

Forecasters at NWS Grand Junction, writing in a discussion issued at 10:10 p.m. MST Tuesday, called for 4 to 8 inches of snow above 10,000 feet across the central mountain corridor and the Elk Mountains. A Winter Weather Advisory for zone COZ010 above 10,000 feet runs from 2 p.m. MST Wednesday until 5 a.m. Thursday. Valley rain and mountain snow arrive Wednesday afternoon and continue through Wednesday night, tapering by Thursday morning. The discussion does not mention the San Juan Mountains and carries no total above 8 inches.

Monday’s system, covered in the Boulder office’s earlier discussion, offered a lesson in how these small storms behave. The office had expected 2 to 6 inches in the mountains with localized amounts to 9, then trimmed totals after early reports showed only a dusting to an inch, with isolated spots near 2. The same Monday discussion described strong northerly gusts of 40 to 55 mph on the plains behind a cold front and flagged Wednesday’s weak trough as a fresh chance for light mountain snow, favoring the southern mountains. A separate system to the northwest was expected to pass too far northeast later in the week to bring precipitation, and upper-level ridging returns after the Wednesday trough.

Boulder’s Park County focus and the Highway 285 corridor

NWS Boulder’s Tuesday afternoon discussion forecast roughly 2 to 7 inches, concentrated in Park County and adjacent areas above 7,500 feet, with the highest values and worst road conditions in western Park County. Precipitation begins Wednesday afternoon as showers and possibly a few thunderstorms before turning stratiform in the evening, and the office put chances as high as 80 percent across the Interstate 70 corridor mountains, the southern foothills and the Palmer Divide. Highway 285 in Park County was flagged as the likeliest trouble spot.

Boulder also hedged. Its forecasters said an advisory might be needed if precipitation trends higher, but that amounts could be much lower if the system tracks farther south. Thursday looks dry under a ridge aloft, with plains highs in the 50s, so the snow is a one-night event with no follow-up in sight.

Elevation thresholds explain much of the difference between offices. Grand Junction’s 4 to 8 inches applies only above 10,000 feet, the advisory zone is limited to that terrain, and Boulder’s 2 to 7 inches reaches down to 7,500 feet in Park County, where Boulder warned of the worst road conditions. Boulder’s 80 percent chance covers a wide footprint, from the Interstate 70 corridor mountains to the southern foothills and the Palmer Divide, but the largest amounts are confined to a much smaller area.

Pueblo’s central-mountain view and the foot-of-snow map

NWS Pueblo’s afternoon discussion on Tuesday focused on the central mountains, where a quick 3 to 6 inches was expected by Thursday morning. Farther south, the Sangre de Cristo and Wet Mountains were forecast to see only 1 to 3 inches, with snow levels mainly above 10,000 feet. The wording matches the Wednesday-night timing from Grand Junction and Boulder, so all three offices agree on a short, afternoon-to-overnight window.

A foot of snow circulated widely on Wednesday, and it traces to a Weather Trader newsletter post by Ryan Maue. The post captioned a National Weather Service forecast map “Up to 1 foot of snow in Colorado Rockies!” and described a small system delivering a “quick hit of mountain snowfall.” A map caption reports the ceiling of a gridded forecast, and none of the three discussions behind this article forecast more than 8 inches, so a foot appears only as a map maximum. The upper end of the written forecasts, 8 inches, anchors the range.

Practical timing is straightforward. Afternoon drivers on mountain highways meet rain first, then a changeover with snow building through the evening, and the Grand Junction advisory ends at 5 a.m. Thursday. Boulder’s forecast of dry weather and plains highs in the 50s on Thursday means roads should improve by the morning commute.

What remains unsettled is the storm’s track. Boulder warned that a path farther south would cut totals, and Pueblo’s southern ranges are already forecast at just 1 to 3 inches. Whether the central corridor reaches the top of Grand Junction’s 4-to-8-inch range depends on how long the Wednesday-night snow bands hold above 10,000 feet, and whether the cold air that follows is deep enough to keep the valley rain from lingering as slush on the passes.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

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