A look ahead at the expected cold and snowy week, multiple rounds of snow

02/09/25 3:30pm: Hi, I had a chance to look into the exciting weather coming up for this week, before heading to a Superbowl party later (Go Eagles lol). Anyway, Looking very active with lots of snow and cold on tap from Mon night through Sat night! Models finally show the jet-stream sagging south bringing in some much colder air and moisture with a broad trough pattern setting up over the western U.S. (which is what we want for snow in CO).

First a cold upslope event is on tap for the northern front-range (including Den/Bou) from tomorrow night through Wed night, with the coldest air and best snowfall Tue night into Wed (going to be chilly).

Then a stronger pacific trough / short-wave will move across the state from early Fri am through Sat pm and that is slated to bring heavy snow to the mountains and more snow to the front-range.

Here are some main points / details (note that the details will likely change towards the end of the week, uncertainty is high).

For Den/Bou/Ft.Collins, foothills and the northern front-range:

• Rounds of light to moderate snow from 8pm Mon through 5pm Wed. Generally 3-6” for the urban corridor and 5-10” for the foothills, favoring areas north of I-70 and west of I-25 (Boulder and Larimer counties will be favored.

• More snow possible from 5pm Fri through 5pm Sat: additional 2-4” possible (higher amounts in foothills).

• It will be turning much colder by Tue, with coldest day Wed and Thu with high only in the upper teens / low 20s

For the north-central mountains (including Routt, Pitkin, Eagle, Summit, Grand, ClearCreek, western Boulder/Larimer counties etc):

• Next round of meaningful snow expected from about 8am Tue to 8pm Wed: generally 5-10” for the ski areas, with highest amounts west of Vail Pass and towards Aspen (up to 12” in a few spots)

• Then heavier snow from 2am Fri to 5pm Sat (heaviest late Fri night / Sat am): Additional 8-16”+ by Sat night favoring areas of west of Vail Pass

For the southern mountains including San Juans, Sangres, western/southern Elks, Grand Mesa, southern Collegiate range, etc

• Some light snow moves back into the San Juans and up towards the southern Elks tomorrow morning after 5am (5am-5pm) with some light accumulation: Trace-3” in spots.

• Then some moderate snow from 2pm Tue to 8am Wed: 4-8” for the ski areas.

• Then likely much heavier snow with southwest flow and cold-air from 2am Fri through 5pm Sat: additional 8-16”+ as well (especially Fri night into Sat)

As you can see its going to be a wild one! Details will certainly change some. Go Eagles

First image loop shows forecast total snowfall from 6am this morning through 6am next Sun (02/16) (static image shows total snowfall ending 5am Sun)...take amounts with grain of salt but gives broad depiction of how the waves of snow may unfold (and timing). Second image shows the very cold-air coming in at 2am Wed via forecast 700mb temps/wind from latest ECMWF model (showing a nice and cold upslope event on the front-range). Third image shows the stronger short-wave trough valid 8pm Fri from latest ECMWF (via 500mb vorticity and wind). Fourth image shows forecast total snowfall through 11pm Sat from latest GFS (pretty similar to ECMWF but details vary, take with grain of salt).