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December Weather Quickly Turns Snowy

By Justin McHeffey

DENVER (CBS4) - Two separate storm systems are expected to move across Colorado in the coming days. The first brings snow to Denver and the high country Friday and Saturday nights, the second gets here by Monday.

Southwesterly jet stream winds carried cloud cover into the state on Thursday—this marks the eastern edge of the approaching storm. By Friday, the center of this low pressure will be over Arizona and mountain snow develops through the day.

A Winter Storm Watch is posted for the Front Range mountains and high foothills. Six to 13 inches of snow are possible from Friday 6 p.m. through Saturday 6 p.m. along the Continental Divide. Generally, metro snow totals will fall within the 2-6" range during this time frame. On Friday night, a cold front brings northeasterly upslope winds to Denver. Saturday's daytime highs only make it to the lower 30s.

watch

Winter Weather Advisories are in effect Friday and Saturday for the western San Juan Mountains, western Sawatch Range, Elk Mountains, and Gore Range. Six to 12 inches total will be possible in these areas.

ADVISORY

A Winter Storm Warning begins Friday morning for the Flattops and Park Range near Steamboat where up to 18" could fall.

WARNING

As with most winter storms, heavy snow could start very quickly in the mountains and in Denver. The North American Mesoscale model is forecasting a strong area of vorticity over central Colorado early on Saturday morning. That means there's lots of lifting motion in the atmosphere to support high rates of snowfall for a few hours. Careful driving in Denver and in the mountains. Skiing and snowboarding will be excellent this weekend—every ski area will end up with at least a few inches of snow.

We're eyeballing yet another storm by Monday and Tuesday of next week for the Denver metro area and the mountains. Since it's still a few days away, we'll know more the closer we get. If this is any indication of the overall weather pattern, the second half of December appears to be much more active than the first.

Justin McHeffey provides nightly reports from the Mobile Weather Lab. He travels Colorado in search of Mother Nature's most powerful and beautiful conditions. Like his Facebook page Meteorologist Justin McHeffey and follow him on Twitter @WeatherMcHeffey.

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