12:30 PM MST, Sunday, February 7, 2021

Today’s windy and mild temperatures will turn colder again Monday, and much colder by Friday. The eastern Colorado foothills and plains should be mainly dry until Thursday, and then the chance for some accumulating snow increases later on Thursday or Friday.

A very cold air mass is entrenched through the central United States. One only needs to drive a few hours north or east from Denver to encounter temperatures below 15 degrees this Sunday afternoon along with some low clouds, ice fog, and some light snow. A cold front by Monday morning will bring that air mass farther west toward the Front Range urban corridor. We remain on the edge, so it’s possible that Monday will be mostly sunny and seasonably cool. But I am expecting to see areas of low clouds and maybe some local areas of fog or light freezing drizzle Monday morning in the urban corridor. Cloudy areas are likely to erode away during the day, but we may see the return of some low clouds and fog from time to time through Thursday, with cold temperatures but probably not as cold as eastern Wyoming, Nebraska, and Kansas.

Late Thursday it looks like another surge of this cold air mass will move south and threatens to be a somewhat more direct hit along the Front Range, bringing very cold temperatures and at least some snow. Once in place, it may be hard to dislodge the cold air from the Front Range for the 3-day weekend coming up, but that forecast will be updated later in the week.