DENVER — Colorado’s major Arctic blast is just about over as Denver’s temperature is set to finally warm up to freezing or just above for the first time in around 90 hours.
But the strong winter storm is still gripping the state, bringing deteriorating road and travel conditions on Monday, especially in Colorado’s mountains, as one more morning of extreme wind chills awaits on Tuesday.
First, the good news.
“By tomorrow afternoon we’ll see mostly sunny skies and a decent warm up. We're finally going to be back to above freezing,” said Denver7 Meteorologist Lisa Hidalgo. “It's going to be the first time to get above the freezing mark since late Friday when we hit highs in the upper 30s.”
There’s even warmer weather in Denver7’s 7-day forecast.
A wind chill of -18 degrees is expected in Denver on Tuesday morning around 3 a.m., before the warm up begins. Other areas of Colorado will see even more extreme wind chills Tuesday including -34 degree readings in both Fort Morgan and Sterling before the wind chill finally runs above zero degrees in all areas by Noon.
The prolonged period of temperatures below zero and heavy mountain snow have caused many road closures and traffic crashes in Colorado on Monday, while Denver metro highways have been mostly problem free.
“We've seen a few bands of some pretty decent snow roll through the metro area leaving us with some slick conditions out on the roadways,” said Hidalgo. “Definitely it's gonna be icy if you're heading up to the mountains where we've seen snow all weekend long.”
Hazardous driving conditions should be expected if traveling to and from Colorado’s mountain as an additional 3 to 8 inches of snow is possible Monday, compounding problems on the roadways, said the National Weather Service (NWS) in Boulder.
Denver7 Weather
Colorado weather blog: Closures, snow and cold impacts on Monday, January 15
Snow should begin to taper off by late in the afternoon on Monday in the Denver metro, Colorado’s Foothills and plains, said the NWS.
Another morning of below freezing conditions could cause some problems on roadways for the Tuesday morning commute.
Multiple winter weather alerts remain in place in Colorado, including the wind chill warning for the urban corridor, Denver metro and plains until 11 a.m. Tuesday.
A winter storm warning remained in effect for Colorado’s higher elevations until 5 p.m. Monday.
“Periods of moderate snow, along with gusty winds, will lead to near-blizzard conditions across the mountain passes through this afternoon,” said the NWS in its morning update. “Light snow accumulations will occur across the foothills, urban corridor, and plains today.”
Check latest Colorado winter weather alerts
Boulder County foothills could see snow bands dropping up to 2 inches or more of snow on Monday and several mountain schools have announced closures or delays.
A high avalanche danger was also in effect Monday for these locations.
Colorado temperature outlook: When it will warm above the freezing mark
Coloradans looking to thaw out can look ahead to Tuesday for some welcomed news when we’ll finally see temperatures reach 32 degrees or more in some communities. By noon on Tuesday, Denver should break the freezing mark. Here’s a look at the expected high temperatures on Tuesday for other Colorado communities, according to the NWS:
- Boulder: 33°
- Breckenridge: 24°
- Castle Rock: 32°
- Denver: 35°
- Estes Park: 27°
- Evergreen: 28°
- Fort Collins: 24°
- Ft. Morgan: 18°
- Greeley: 19°
- Julesburg: 23°
- Kremmling: 18°
- Limon: 27°
- Longmont: 27°
- Sterling: 21°
- Walden: 19°
On Wednesday in Denver, the afternoon high temp should reach 40 degrees with partly cloudy skies. Thursday, expect 39° with a slight chance of a few flurries.On Friday, skies will remain partly cloudy in the metro area with a high temperature dropping back down to 30 degrees before a nice warm up for the weekend.
In Denver on Saturday, we’ll see sunshine and 47 degrees before an even better day on Sunday where we’ll warm into the low 50s with mostly sunny skies.
WEATHER LINKS: Closings and Delays | Latest forecast | Radars | Traffic | Weather Page | 24/7 Weather Stream
You can always watch 24/7 weather, radar and news updates on the free Denver7+ app on your TV.
Click here to watch the Denver7 live weather stream.