Hey all – for those looking for something quick, I've got a brief description below:

THE MEAT & POTATOES: Strong winds and fire danger here on Thursday afternoon will be replaced QUICKLY by a strong cold front around sunset tonight. That cold front will swing temperatures from the mid 70s into the mid 40s in just a few hours. Clouds will increase through the night and with snow increasing in the mountains around midnight, and around the Denver Metro by sunrise Friday. Snow lasts for most of the day Friday, with some higher snowfall rates possible Friday evening. Snow will likely taper down by Saturday with colder temperatures lingering.

Now, for those looking into specifics, let's jump into the timing, the totals and the impacts:

THE TIMING
Not a whole lot has changed with respect to the timing of this storm. We're expecting snow to start flying in the high country tonight with the approach of the cold front. Some lightning and thunder is possible up near Steamboat and Estes Park with this first wave of energy. Given the intensity, travel in these areas tonight is likely to be rough.

We'll see snow pick up from north to south along the Front Range after midnight and increasing into the Friday morning commute. For Denver proper, I think we'll see an initial wave of snow, followed by lingering flurries, light snow, or even rain at times through most of Friday mid-morning. After that, we're expecting another burst of potentially heavier snow Friday evening for the commute. Those snow showers continue through about midnight before slowly tapering off into Saturday morning.

For areas further south, including Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak Region, we likely don't see much from the first round of snowfall Friday morning... by the afternoon and evening, expect a burst of rain and snow showers (perhaps even a crack of thunder) before moisture changes over to mostly snow for the evening commute. This burst of snow could certainly cause some problems if you'll be out on the road – I know some folks for the holiday weekend may have family coming into town during this time, so plan accordingly! Snow looks to linger around Colorado Springs most of Friday night and lasts into Saturday morning before tapering off around lunchtime Saturday.

THE TOTALS
How much snow will we see? Still a bit of uncertainty, but we think we have some good estimates:

We still have a bit of a wide range due to some differences in the modeling... mainly between the EURO, 3km NAM and the HRRR. As of noon Thursday, the HRRR and the EURO seem to have a similar solution, while the NAM is FAR drier compared to the other two.

The EURO seems to be playing a middle-ground approach here, and that's what we're basing our forecast ranges on, with top ends reflect the HRRR solutions. For now, we'll table the NAM solutions and see how it performs in the upcoming afternoon runs to see if adjustments need to be made.

IMPORTANT TO NOTE: Warmer temperatures likely mean we see some melting, so in order to achieve higher end totals, we'll really need the snow to crank Friday evening.

THE IMPACTS
We will likely see some slowdowns Friday morning, with a better chance for slushy and messy roads Friday evening. The good news is that once the snow stops, we'll likely see rapidly improving road conditions due to marginal temperatures and warm ground.

We'll likely stay chilly on Saturday with slowly clearing skies from north to south. Temps will hold in the 30s and 40s.

Good news for the Easter Egg hunts too – we should be much warmer Sunday, likely in the 50s and 60s, so we should see a lot of melting. Unfortunately, shaded spots that don't get a lot of sun will likely remain snowy and wet.

Following this chilly weather, we're right back into the swing of things with 70s and 80s looking to get back into play next week! Never a dull moment around here... huh?

Thanks for hanging out with us again, we'll do our best to get to any questions you may have down in the comments below.

Have a good weekend all!

Luke