KJCT News 8 | Grand Junction, Colorado

Colder & Windier Tuesday

Tonight: A few clouds building early for a partly cloudy finish to the night. Wind speeds should remain light before midnight and low temperatures will be near the mid 30s for some valley locations and colder down to the 20s for mountain zones. In anticipation of the approaching Pacific system, the National Weather Service in Grand Junction will issue a Winter Weather Advisory for the northern mountains (Parks, Elkhead and Flattops) tonight through Tuesday evening. Snow accumulations expected in the 4-8" range with strong winds gusting to 40 mph. Valley locations retain just a slight chance of rain after midnight with better chances to the northwest this evening/early Tuesday.

Tuesday: The wind speeds should keep your wind chimes busy throughout the morning as a cold front passes through the Western Slope. Afternoon rain chances look to be 20-30% for valley locations as this system moves from the northwest to the southeast from sunrise to sunset. High temperatures will feel colder with the wind and actual highs will register below the average. Some valley locations may not hit 50° while others could just hover there. The mountain zones in and outside the advisory area look to benefit greater from this system as it has slowed and weakened somewhat from Monday's data.

Extended: Wednesday through next weekend for most valley locations should have little obstacles in the way of a drier, clearer and slowly warming forecast. There is a weak pulse of energy expected to sweep through Thursday night and this should briefly add a few extra clouds for Montrose and points further south. By default, a slight chance of rain/snow will return for those mountain zones.

First Warn 8 Chief Meteorologist Russ Pappas