Denver Weather: Arctic Blast Of Snow, Near Record Cold Arrives Monday

DENVER (CBS4) - Today will be the pick day of the weekend around Colorado with partly to mostly sunny skies and mild temperatures compared to the past several days. Afternoon highs should top off in the 40s to near 50 in the mountains with 50s and lower 60s around Denver, on the western slope and across the eastern plains.

I hope you are making plans to enjoy this day because things will change in a hurry during the day on Monday as an arctic cold front blasts in from the north. It was located along the Canadian around sunrise Sunday morning.

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We expect this cold front to move into northern Colorado around the noon hour on Monday (maybe a little before) and into Denver sometime before the evening commute. Light rain showers will develop ahead of it but they will quickly change to snow as much colder air spills into the state.

Right now it looks like this will be a 3-6 inch snowfall on average for much of metro Denver with 4-8 inch totals in the Front Range Foothills and along the Palmer Divide. Locations above 8,000 feet in Boulder County and Larimer County, including Rocky Mountain National Park, could see totals exceed 8 inches.

The National Weather Service has placed those areas under a Winter Storm Watch due to the potential to see heavy snow. A watch means the forecast is not set in stone and to watch for further updates as we get closer to the storm's arrival.

The snow this time around will not be as heavy and wet as the last storm. This is because the air will be much colder, which produces a lighter and more fluffy snowfall.

This storm will be a fast mover with snow ending sometime on Tuesday. We could see another small chance for some light rain to snow by Wednesday and Thursday before a pretty significant warming and drying trend settles into the state for the upcoming weekend.