Denver Weather: Rain Becomes Snow Tonight, 1-4" For The Metro Area

DENVER (CBS4) - A large spring storm bringing copious amounts of moisture to Colorado will also drag much colder air into the state on Wednesday. The result will be gradually falling snow levels and by late Wednesday night we expect rain to change into snow for the entire Denver metro area.

Assuming the transition occurs by around midnight, most locations below 6,000 feet should see 1 to 4 inches of heavy, wet, slushy snow. The vast majority of the accumulation will be limited to the grass, rooftops, and vehicles and not the roads. Many trees have also leafed out and therefore broken trim limbs are possibility. Denver's average snowfall in the month of May is 1.7 inches.

Locations above 6,000 feet including the Palmer Divide in Douglas and Elbert Counties and the foothills of Jefferson, Boulder, and Larimer Counties will see higher snow amounts compared to most of the metro area. Most of these areas will get 3 to 6 inches of snow with roads becoming icy and snowpacked by late Wednesday night into the Thursday morning commute. The higher foothills above 7,500 feet could see up to a foot of accumulation.

Meanwhile the mountains (locations above 9,000 feet) will receive unusually high snow totals for the second week in May. A Winter Storm Warning has been issued through 6 p.m. Thursday for the mountains of Summit County and and the Winter Park area for 8-16 inches of snow. Even more is expected in the San Juan mountains in southwest Colorado.

Mountain areas west of Vail Pass are under a Winter Weather Advisory also through 6 p.m. Thursday for slightly less snow. The mountains surrounding Vail, Aspen, Crested Butte, and the Flat Tops will see 5-10 inches of snow.

The storm will finally move away from Colorado Thursday night. Drier weather arrives on Friday and then warmer weather arrives just in time for Mother's Day weekend.