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Colorado Weather: Surge Of Snow On The Way As Winter Storm Hits In Summer

DENVER (CBS4) - After shattering record high temperatures over the Labor Day weekend with 90s and 100s along the Front Range, winter abruptly showed up Tuesday morning.

Denver officially broke a record with 101 degrees on Saturday, tied a record with 97 degrees on Sunday, and came within two degrees of the record with 93 degrees on Monday. Overall it was one of the hottest Labor Day weekend's on record in Colorado. And it was made worst by the ongoing wildfires that caused air quality alerts and very smoky skies.

Going from that record heat to the coldest weather in five months was quite a shock Tuesday morning. The temperature in Denver dropped more than 60 degrees in less than 18 hours. That type of temperature swing is not necessarily uncommon in Colorado in winter the months. It's extremely unusual in September.

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The cold air was enough to turn cold rain into wet snow in most areas Tuesday morning. A brief change back to rain is possible below 6,000 feet Tuesday afternoon but all precipitation is expected to be snow Tuesday evening. And Tuesday night is when the majority of the accumulation will occur along Front Range.

Officially the Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins areas are under a Winter Weather Advisory for 2 to 6 inches of snow through 12 p.m Wednesday.

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That said, most metro area neighborhoods will be closer to 2 inches than 6 inches of snow except for areas near the base of the foothills. The CBS4 snow forecast map looks somewhat different from the official advisory.

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Elsewhere, a Winter Storm Warning is in effect until 12 p.m. Wednesday for the foothills of Jefferson, Boulder, and Larimer Counties for more than 8 inches of summer snow in some areas. The Palmer Divide including Castle Rock, Franktown, Kiowa, and Elizabeth is also under a Winter Storm Warning for up to 10 inches of snow.

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In the mountains, the highest snow totals will likely be in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and Wet Mountains west of Pueblo, Walsenburg, and Trinidad. These areas will get up to 18 inches of slushy snow. Farther west there will be up to 12 inches in the San Juan Mountains. The mountains of Summit County and northern Park County will see at least 6 inches of snow including along the I-70 corridor above Georgetown and Highway 285 above Morrison.

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The storm will be slow to move out of Colorado with additional snow mixed with rain possible in the mountains on Wednesday, Thursday, and even Friday. Snow should end completely for Denver and the Front Range no later than noon on Wednesday but it will take several more days before warmer weather returns.

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