Frigid With 3-7" Snow Through Tuesday AM Western Ski Areas Warmer (!) but See 1-2 Feet

It's been a very cold and snowy day for much of the Denver metro area -- especially places north and west of downtown Denver towards the foothills. At 8pm Sunday evening as I write this, I measure 1.6" of snow at home in downtown Boulder, CO with a current temperature of 13.5 degrees. Here's the forecast through the duration of the snow event:

Sunday night:
The theme for Sunday evening will be periods of light snow, especially for areas north and west of Denver, towards the foothills. Frigid temperatures will bottom out around 6-10 degrees. If your pipes are susceptible to freezing (as mine are) I'd suggest leaving the water running slightly overnight -- especially since it did not get out of the teens all day.

Monday:
Plan on overcast skies with periods of light to moderate snow, especially during the afternoon hours. It will be frigid with high temperatures only in the low to mid teens! I expect that the heaviest snow of the day will fall somewhere during the 12-8pm period.

Monday night:
Overcast skies and periods of light snow will linger, especially in areas north and west of Denver. It will be bitterly cold, with overnight lows near zero in most locations -- necessitating taking any precautionary measures to keep pipes from freezing; (I'll be keeping the cabinets under my sinks open, heat on, and water -- both hot and cold -- at a trickle overnight.) Any scattered snow showers or flurries should taper off before dawn on Tuesday.

TOTAL EXPECTED ACCUMULATION

(for Denver Metro Area)

THREE to SEVEN INCHES*

*As is typical with upslope snow events, the higher amounts will be in the northwest reaches of the Denver metro area and near the foothills (like Boulder). Amounts on the lower end of that range will fall in downtown Denver and the south and east suburbs (i.e., Littleton & Parker).

Note: the western ski resorts will really cash in over the next 36 hours. I'm expecting 1-2 feet during this time in Aspen, Breckenridge, Vail, and surrounding ski areas. But they luck out even more because we are currently under the influence of an Arctic high, where the coldest air lies at the lowest levels. That means that temperatures in the mountains will be some 15-20 degrees warmer than lower elevation/further east areas east of the foothills (Denver, included) over this same time period!