DENVER — The weather pattern has shifted across Colorado, with the warm and dry conditions giving way to colder weather and some periods of snow for the mountains.
The cold front that blew through the state early Sunday left behind 4 to 10 inches of new snow for the mountains and brought the first official freeze of the season to Denver as the low dipped to 31 degrees Monday morning.
Despite sunny skies, the afternoon temperatures stayed chilly with many areas holding in the upper 40s to low 50s on the plains and upper 30s to low 40s in the mountains. Skies will be clear tonight and temperatures will drop to the upper 20s to low 30s for the Denver area and tumble to the teens to low 20s in the mountains.
Tuesday will be a little milder with a gradual increase in clouds. Highs will return to the upper 50s to low 60s for lower elevations. In the mountains, scattered snow showers will develop with temperatures in the 40s.
A new storm system will spin into Colorado Wednesday afternoon. Clouds will thicken and snow will develop in the mountains. Denver will stay dry with highs in the upper 50s. Rain and snow showers will develop in Denver Wednesday night and continue into early Thursday. The mountains may pick up another 3 to 6 inches of snow, but only light amounts are expected in the Denver area as the main energy with this system will pass too far to the south.
The average date for the first official snow (at least one tenth of an inch) is October 18. Last year, the first official snowfall was not until Dec. 10 - the latest on record since 1882. In 2020, the first snowfall was on Sept. 8. The earliest snowfall was Sept. 3, 1961.
Thursday will be colder with highs in the 40s and gradual clearing during the day. Friday will be sunny and cool, followed by milder and pleasant weather for the weekend.
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