Denver Weather: Another Disappointing Storm Considering The Drought Situation

DENVER (CBS4) - The third storm in just eight days entered Colorado Monday night and while some mountain areas will get needed moisture, most of Colorado will miss out again. It's a troubling trend since most of the state is experiencing drought.

The most recently released drought monitor for Colorado shows 66% of the state has at least moderate drought including the entire Denver metro area. Meanwhile about 30% of the state has at least severe drought including the I-70 mountain corridor west of Vail Pass. And nearly 14% of Colorado has extreme or exceptional drought including Steamboat Springs, Craig, and Meeker.

Fortunately some mountain areas north of Interstate 70 have received from beneficial moisture from this latest storm including about 6 inches of snow at the Steamboat ski area early Tuesday.

The Steamboat Springs area as well as the mountains surrounding Craig and Meeker such as the Elkhead Mountains, the Park Range, and The Flat Tops are all under a Winter Weather Advisory until midnight Tuesday night for up to 8 inches of total snowfall.

But farther south snow accumulation was much less including in Summit County where the Arapahoe Basin ski area reported no snow on their 5am morning report but minor accumulation occurred later.

For Denver and the Front Range, temperatures will be cooler on Tuesday compared to Monday but it will still be far too warm for snow at lower elevations. Instead there is a small chance for light rain from late morning through early evening. The "best" chance for the showers is for areas north of Denver including around Boulder, Longmont, Loveland, Fort Collins, and Greeley.

High temperatures will struggle to reach above 60 degrees along the Front Range on Tuesday which is slightly below normal for the third week in October.

The storm will quickly move northeast of Colorado Tuesday night into Wednesday morning allowing for clearing skies. That means a cold start to the day on Wednesday with temperatures near freezing around Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins. The mountains will drop into the teens in many cases.

Then a gradual warming trend will start Wednesday afternoon and continue through the upcoming weekend with high temperatures eventually returning to the 70s. It will be another beautiful weekend for most of Colorado.