Heavy late-April snow to bury Colorado and threaten power outages

By Brett Rathbun, AccuWeather.com Meteorologist

April 28,2016; 11:36AM,EDT

 

 

Enough cold air will be in place for another round of heavy snow to fall across Colorado, including Denver, to end the week.
"Another round of April snow will impact Denver on Friday," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dan Pydynowski said.
A storm tracking across the southern Rockies will interact with cold air funneling southward from Canada across the Front Range. As a result, rain will change over to wet snow by Friday morning.
Snow, heavy at times, will continue across much of Denver and the Front Range through Friday. The snowfall combined with the high sun angle may make it difficult for snow to accumulate on roadways.
This map shows storm total snowfall on non-paved surfaces. Lesser amounts are expected on roadways and sidewalks.
"Although snow should be falling much of the day in Denver, temperatures will be hovering a few degrees above freezing and will help to limit accumulations on roads," Pydynowski said.
The greatest accumulations will be on non-paved surfaces.
Anyone traveling along Interstate 25 from Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Pueblo, Colorado, will want to be alert for snow-covered or slushy roads and give yourself extra time to reach your destination. Travel disruptions could also develop across parts of interstates 70, 76 and 80 due to slick spots and poor visibility.
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Up to a foot of snow could fall across the higher elevations of the Colorado Rockies as well as along the Palmer Divide.
The heavy, wet nature of the snow could be enough to knock down tree branches and produce sporadic power outages and minor property damage.
This storm is not expected to produce as much snow as the mid-April storm, when a foot of snow buried Denver on April 16. Portions of I-70 and I-80 were closed for a time due to white-out conditions during the height of that storm. The snowfall also snarled air travel for thousands, as snow forced the cancellation of nearly 70 percent of inbound and outbound flights at Denver International Airport on Saturday.
As the storm slowly leaves this weekend, the chance for a rain or snow showers will continue. Highs may struggle to reach the lower 40s F across most of the Front Range.
The snow will not impact any sporting events as the Colorado Rockies baseball team and Colorado Rapids soccer team will be on the road through the weekend.
However, the snow will be beneficial to keep any ski resorts open a bit longer across the Colorado Rockies.
Drier and milder weather will return to the region during the first week of May.