Colorado to see colder weather, snow

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DENVER - Rain and snow had already moved into several areas in the mountains and over the Western Slope by late Thursday evening as part of the first of two storms taking aim at Colorado. 

The Front Range foothills will have snow during the day Friday with a few inches of accumulation by late in the afternoon. Much heavier snow will fall along and west of the Continental Divide.

While most of the moisture with this first storm will stay in the mountains, the Denver, Boulder and Fort Collins areas will see a mix of rain and snow late in the day Friday with minor accumulation possible.

Cooler temperatures will turn the precipitation to all snow by early Saturday morning so the metro area could see 2 to 5 inches of snow by Saturday night. Most of the snow will come prior to sunrise Saturday and then again late Saturday evening into Sunday. This means that the snow may take a break during the day on Saturday.

Some mountain areas will see a foot or more of snow by Saturday afternoon.

A WINTER STORM WARNING has been issued for most central mountain locations west of Vail Pass, the central Yampa River Basin, and Eastern San Juan and Sawatch mountains above 10,000 feet until 6 a.m. Saturday. Locations within the watch include but are not limited to Vail, Aspen, Crested Butte, Craig, Meeker and Wolf Creek Pass.

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY is in effect until 6 a.m. Saturday for the Steamboat Springs area, northwestern Colorado, Gunnison and Pagosa Springs where 4 to 8 inches of fresh snow is possible by early Saturday morning.

Another WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY is in effect for the same timeframe for locations in the San Juans, including but not limited to the cities of Telluride, Lake City and Silverton, where they can expect to see 8 to 12 inches of snow by Saturday morning.

Rain and snow will not arrive in the Denver area until Friday morning at the earliest. This first system will bring little to no accumulation to locations along the Front Range and Eastern Plains.

A second system, however, could bring accumulating snow to the Denver area Saturday night through Sunday. 

The National Weather Service has issued a WINTER STORM WATCH from Saturday night until Sunday afternoon for the Denver, Boulder, Castle Rock and Fort Collins areas, including foothill locations like Estes Park and Evergreen. 

As long as the upper level low sets up in southeast Colorado, this upslope event could bring 6 to 12 inches of snow to the Denver area by Sunday.  Foothill locations could see an additional 8 to 16 inches of snow. 

If the low does not move into the southeast corner of Colorado, then this snow forecast will change.  Stay tuned to the networks of 9NEWS for the very latest on both systems moving through this weekend.