Rain turned to snow across the metro area Saturday morning as the winter storm that hit the mountains over the past two days continued to sweep across Colorado.
On average, Denver saw between 5 to 6 inches of snow accumulation and some cities further west in the metro area saw up to 10 inches Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.
“Over the Denver area the storm has slowed down significantly, but there’s still a band of snow west of the metro area spitting stuff out,” said NWS meteorologist Kenley Bonner at 6 p.m. Saturday. “We expect the rest of that weather to move out by 9 p.m.”
Bonner said Denver could see some more rain tonight, but snow in the city should be wrapped up for the evening.
The Denver area started seeing snow mixing in with the morning rain around 6 a.m. Saturday, according to National Weather Service meteorologists.
By 10 a.m., National Weather Service meteorologist Russell Danielson said there was already two inches of snow on the ground in Denver and out toward the airport, causing more than 1,000 flights to be delayed or canceled Saturday.
Other areas, especially in the mountains, had already seen a foot or more of snow Saturday morning and the inches only grew throughout the day, according to updated snow totals.
The western side of the metro took longer to shift from rain to snow Saturday morning, which is why those areas are taking longer to shift back now, Bonner said.
Danielson said areas like Arvada, Greeley and Erie turned over from rain to snow around 10 a.m. Saturday, but cities like Boulder were still stuck in the rain period until early afternoon.
Across the metro area, all rain had turned into snow by 2 p.m., according to NWS forecasters. The city can expect temperatures to drop to 27 degrees overnight, falling from the daytime high of 40 degrees.
The wet, heavy snow can lead to dangerous driving conditions that can change quickly, meteorologists stated in a post on X.
“And now the National Weather Service has issued a Dense Fog Advisory that will be in effect until 9 a.m. and covers from Fort Collins down to Castle Rock,” Bonner said. “That just adds to the hazardous driving conditions when you’ve already got snowy and icy roads.”
Many roads across the state experienced delays, closures and accidents throughout the day Saturday because of the winter weather.
The National Weather Service issued a Winter Weather Advisory Saturday from 10 a.m. to midnight for the metro area, Boulder and Interstate-70 east of Denver through Limon.
Colorado’s next chance of snow after tonight is late Wednesday night into Thursday, but there’s a very small chance the snow will stick or accumulate much, Danielson said.
