Snow falls in the mountains, but the Western Slope is just cold

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KJCT) - The cold gripping Western Colorado will not retreat quickly. In fact, the cold gripping Western Colorado will likely go colder before we see signs of warming.

Leonids Meteor Shower

The Leonids Meteor Shower peaks tonight. Weather offers good visibility, but the Leonids Shower is usually not one of our more active meteor showers. It offers an average of about 15 meteors per hour. The sky will be clear, and we’ll be cold. Best viewing is well after midnight. Look up and slightly north just after midnight. The closer to sunrise we go, the more northwest you’ll turn. Bundle up!

Wednesday Morning’s Low Temperatures

Low temperatures on Wednesday morning were 20 degrees at Grand Junction, 14 degrees at Montrose, 16 degrees at Delta, and 7 degrees at Cortez.

Our Next 24 Hours

This evening will be clear and cold. Sunset is at 5:00 PM. Last light is at 5:28 PM. We’ll cool from mid-30′s at 6 PM to near freezing by 8 PM. The rest of tonight will be clear and cold. Low temperatures by morning will be near 19 degrees around Grand Junction, 15 degrees around Montrose, 16 degrees around Delta, and 10 degrees around Cortez. We’ll need warm layers on the way out the door Thursday morning. The day won’t offer much warming even beneath abundant sunshine. We’ll be mostly sunny. High temperatures will be near 41 degrees around Grand Junction, 39 degrees around Montrose, 41 degrees around Delta, and 44 degrees around Cortez.

Tracking Changes

The general north-to-south flow of the atmosphere keeps pushing cold, dry Canadian air southward into Colorado. That dry aspect is why our cold fronts can’t seem to bring any rain or snow. The cold will not relax until the flow of the atmosphere changes. That is likely to happen this weekend. The flow will become more west-to-east into Colorado. The flow from the Pacific will be warmer and more moisture-loaded, so when storm systems ride that more humid wind into our area, they’ll be more apt to bring some rain or snow to us.

Our Next Weather Maker

Our next rain and snow maker could arrive around next Wednesday. Forecast data are trending toward a better chance for rain and snow for us following some limited warming on Monday and Tuesday. We’ll be closely monitoring the progress of this storm system for you, and we’ll fine tune the details as we get closer in time to any impact.

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