Today’s Forecast:
After several days of snow, we'll remain unsettled today! The upper level low over the desert southwest continues to swirl around today, slowly weakening and bringing in energy and moisture this afternoon. The energy will be fairly modest and the moisture mainly sticks to the mountains. After starting the day with sunshine, clouds build south to north through the day, with snow and rain showers this afternoon in the Wet Mountains, Sangres, and adjacent high plains, with weaker and lighter shower chances this afternoon in Colorado Springs and Pueblo as well. This will depend on potential upslope flow developing this afternoon...overall, if you're on I-25, keep the umbrella with you today, but you should be generally OK. In Pueblo and along the U.S. 50 corridor evening rain showers are likely with more upper level energy arriving. This same energy will lead to snow showers in the southern mountains. Winter Weather Advisories are in effect for the southwestern high country through tomorrow:
Be careful heading out the door: isolated icy patches remain on roads region wide, particularly Saturday morning. Conditions should improve through the day anywhere that sees good sunshine. Road crews have done great work clearing things off overnight - so many roads are dry - but the icy patches are generally black ice, and may not be visible until you're on them, or close to them. Plan accordingly. The higher your elevation, and the colder your overnight temperatures, the greater the coverage of black ice in the morning. With sun and mid-30s this afternoon, some of those icy patches will melt - but the lack of full sun due to the afternoon clouds will prevent full melting everywhere.
For the Saint Patrick's Day Parade in Colorado Springs:
- festivities begin at 9:30AM
- race at 10:00AM
- parade at 12PM.
- Temperatures will be in the 30s at 9:30AM with wind gusts of 15-25 mph. Wind chills around 30. The morning starts mostly clear, with clouds moving in from south to north through the morning. A low chance for flurries and a quick snow shower exists between 3:00PM and 6:00PM today. Highs top out in the low 40s - about 10 degrees below average. Today's normal high in Colorado Springs is 55 degrees. The record high was 80 degrees set in 2015.
Curious about snow totals? Rain totals? Records? Check here. I'll be updating it with new information throughout the morning! And thanks again to those who sent us reports and observations during this storm!
Colorado Springs forecast: High: 42; Low: 29.
Partly sunny and breezy with a chilly north wind at 10-20 mph, gusting to 25 mph. If you're hitting the Parade today - as mentioned above - bundle up. Tonight, snow showers return. While they should remain low impact - an inch is possible in some areas and particularly in the higher terrain. This will be a short-range forecast as exact placement of any rain or snow showers will depend on where upslope flow sets up with more updates later this morning.
Pueblo forecast: High: 48; Low: 32.
Partly sunny with a slight chance for an afternoon rain shower. Clouds increase during the afternoon. Northerly winds this afternoon at 10-20 mph gusting to 30 mph...breezy but not windy. Rain showers are likely tonight into early tomorrow morning, with some wet snowflakes mixing in with any overnight showers. It'll be good to get even more beneficial moisture in what is typically our dry season. Best chance is after 6:00PM tonight into tomorrow morning with upper level energy rolling through and providing some upslope flow. We're not talking about big numbers here but it's enough to carry the umbrella if you've got mid/late evening plans. Those rain/snow showers continue into Sunday morning before conditions improve during the afternoon.
Canon City forecast: High: 43; Low: 32.
Partly sunny with a slight chance for an afternoon rain/snow shower. Winds from the northeast at 5-10 mph. Tonight, a better chance for rain/snow showers arrive - the current timing favors between 1AM - 3AM Sunday morning, but I would suggest packing the umbrella if out and about tonight... just in case mountain moisture can work its way into the valley sooner. Those rain showers should persist overnight into the morning hours Sunday before clearing in mid/late morning.
Woodland Park forecast: High: 35; Low: 21.
Partly sunny with afternoon hit-or-miss snow showers. You'll get some decent snow-melt sunshine today despite the cold temperatures. However, with 3-4 feet of snow (!!!) with this storm, and 30s for your highs, expect the winter wonderland to continue at least a bit longer. We're still tracking the storm that brought you all that snow - it's weakening, but it's throwing us energy and moisture this afternoon. That leads to snow showers tonight, into Sunday morning. Timing wise: snow showers are likely after 3:00PM, but should be on the light side. Winds will be out of the north at 5-10 mph. Careful on the roads when the sun goes down tonight...black ice is likely once again.
Tri-Lakes forecast: High: 30s; Low: 20s.
Partly sunny and cold, with winds from the north at 10-20 mph, gusting to 30 mph during the afternoon. Clouds increase during the afternoon with mostly cloudy skies by sunset. A couple snow showers are possible tonight - the chance is very low...around 10%. Mostly cloudy conditions continue into tomorrow morning with a slightly better shot for a snow shower or two into the early morning on Sunday.
Plains forecast: High: 50s; Low: 20s/30s.
Partly sunny with highs in the mid to upper 50s. Winds from the north at 10-20 mph.
Walsenburg and Trinidad forecast: High: 39/41; Low: 29.
Mostly cloudy with off-and-on snow showers. Upslope winds out of the northeast at 10-15 mph. More energy arrives this evening into Sunday morning. Snow showers are likely overnight into Sunday with new accumulations of 1-4 inches possible. Snow showers continue into the morning with cloudy skies, with patches of sun in the afternoon intermixed with lighter rain and snow showers that will be spottier in nature.
Mountains forecast: High: 30s; Low: 20s.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY in effect from 6:00PM Saturday - 12:00PM Sunday
Mostly cloudy with snow showers today, winds from the north at 10-15 mph. Tonight, isolated snow showers through 5:00PM, then more scattered snow showers arrive from south to north. The southern Sangres, and Wet Mountains, see snow soonest. Snow will be heavy overnight in these zones - with some slopes picking up a new 4-7 inches of accumulation. For the central mountains, snow showers today...with a couple inches tacked on to the new powder you've seen, with more hit-or-miss snow showers overnight.
Extended outlook forecast:
Additional upper level energy tracks through Colorado on Sunday, mainly during the overnight into the morning, leading to rain and snow shower chances overnight. The main activity will remain in the mountains, particularly the Wet Mountains and Sangre de Cristo mountains. But, rain showers will be possible tonight in Pueblo, and snow showers in the Springs - light and low impact. We'll have a nice start to the week - with mainly clear skies Monday and Tuesday, before a disturbance Wednesday brings in more clouds and modest wind gusts. Those warm winds will help temperatures reach the 60s mid-week, where we'll stay through the end of the week.
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Curious about the First Alert 5 Weather Storm Impact Scale? Check out our cheatsheet explainer.
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