12:15 PM, Thursday, December 11, 2014
A very moist storm hitting the West Coast is likely to have a minor impact on the local Denver-Boulder area Sunday. It looks like a dusting to a few inches for the Front Range and adjacent plains from Colorado Springs to Cheyenne. South of Colorado Springs there is a little more potential for a period of heavy snow. I’ll update that tomorrow.
The storm center is likely to move eastward across northern New Mexico late Saturday and Sunday. Historically that’s a good track if you like snow along the Front Range. But the relatively small size of the circulation will likely result the best moisture staying south and east of Denver.
For western Colorado, moderately heavy accumulations in the 6-12″ range are likely in some high elevation areas. As you get to lower elevations, the snow will be wetter and probably even start as rain. The best chance for some heavy snow is in the San Juans and Sangre de Cristos.
Enjoy the warmth until then. The record max in Denver on Friday is 69, for Boulder it’s 67, and in Cheyenne it’s 63. I expect to get close but probably not break any of those records.