A bitter cold air mass covers much of the northern United States, including northeastern Colorado! Temperatures have been just in the single digits and teens in the northeast corner of our state and stayed at or below zero across Montana and the Dakotas. As close as Greeley, temperatures stayed in the teens to low 20s during the afternoon.
The very cold air is heavy and dense and does not flow uphill very easily, so the western and southern suburbs of the Denver area were much milder, with temperatures in the 40s.
The mountains were also not as cold, with readings in the 30s. There will be another round of snow possible tonight and Tuesday and it will continue off and on through the end of the week for the high country.
Temperatures will be tricky to forecast over the next few days as that very cold air mass will be lurking just to the northeast of the Denver area. Tuesday and Wednesday should still be fairly mild for western and southern suburbs with highs in the 30s to low 40s. Farther to the northeast, especially in the South Platte Valley, readings will be in the 20s, with much colder weather in extreme northeast Colorado, southeastern Wyoming and Nebraska.
By Thursday, the colder air will begin to surge southward across more of Colorado. Temperatures will drop to the 20s to near 30 for highs on Thursday and then plunge Friday through the weekend to some of the coldest weather we have seen in a few years. Lows may tumble to 5 to 10 degrees below zero by Saturday and Sunday morning!
Along with bitter cold, there will be a chance for snow, although amounts in Denver will likely be just a couple inches starting Thursday and continued into Saturday.
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