Snow on track to arrive on Monday

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KJCT) - Our next weather maker is on track to arrive with snow overnight Sunday or early Monday morning. This setup doesn’t necessarily scream big snow for us on the Western Slope, however.

Snow Possible, but Could Choke

The setup is one that has become familiar to us lately: high pressure is centered north of us, low pressure is centered south of us. The clockwise wind flow around the high pressure and the counter-clockwise wind flow around the low pressure both bring a drying downslope wind off of the Continental Divide into Western Colorado. That may largely limit the snow we get on the Western Slope, especially in the valleys, from this storm system.

Assuming It Doesn’t Choke

Most of our forecast data suggests that most of us in Western Colorado will get at least some snow. It may less than half an inch for many of us in the valleys. The mountains, of course, are favored for bigger snow. We’d prefer for you to be prepared for something bigger and get less than the other way around. For that reason, we will focus on a situation where the snow doesn’t choke for this discussion. With that in mind, snow can begin increasing after midnight Sunday night. It will fill in over the valleys along Highway 50 during the Monday morning drive, based on our latest data, and then become more on-and-off during the afternoon. The heaviest snow could fall Monday evening before fading to an end between about 3 AM and 9 AM Tuesday.

This Weekend’s Weather

The weekend will be mostly calm leading up to that Monday storm system. A storm system will bring snow to the mountains on Saturday. It’s possible that some snow could fall Saturday evening in the valleys of Western Colorado. Possible, but unlikely. Sunday will be mostly cloudy, but we’ll stay dry during the day as the snow looks to hold off until after midnight Sunday night. Highs will be in the mid-30s on Saturday to near 40 degrees on Sunday. Morning lows will range from high teens to mid-20s.

Our Next 24 Hours

This evening will be partly to mostly cloudy. We’ll cool from upper 20s around 6 PM to mid-20s by 8 PM. The rest of tonight will be partly to mostly cloudy. Low temperatures by morning will be near 18 degrees around Grand Junction, 14 degrees around Montrose, 15 degrees around Delta, and 6 degrees around Cortez. Friday will be partly to mostly cloudy and unseasonably cold. High temperatures will be near 34 degrees around Grand Junction, 33 degrees around Montrose, 33 degrees around Delta, and 35 degrees around Cortez.