Rain and mountain snow: Round 1 on Thursday

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) - Rain and mountain snow will increase across Western Colorado after midnight tonight through Thursday morning. Travel through the mountains will be difficult at best and dangerous in spots - especially on the high mountain passes - between Grand Junction and Denver. Three waves of rain and mountain snow are expected.

Round One: Thursday

Rain will begin increasing after about 2 AM early Thursday morning. Areas of rain are likely at 6-9 AM during the morning dry, but there will be dry spots mixed in, too. Snow may fall up high on the Grand Mesa, the Elk Mountains, and in the San Juan Mountains. On-and-off rain will fade after about 10 AM, and it will mostly end by about noon Thursday. A stray shower or two can’t be ruled out through Thursday evening, but the break will last through Friday.

Round Two: Saturday

Round two of rain may focus more on southwestern Colorado. The start has shifted a little later. More changes are possible as this storm system gets a little closer and more data is available to apply to this forecast. Right now, we expect that rain around the Four Corners and mountain snow over the San Juans will increase between 8 AM and noon Saturday. Rain will continue north/northeastward with snow in the High Country through 7 PM. This could mean rain as far north as Montrose and possibly Delta, but it may mean Grand Junction is overall drier. We’ll get a break overnight, though snow in the mountains may not break much.

Round Three: Sunday

Round three arrives Sunday morning. Rain over the Western Slope and mountain snow will increase between 7 AM and noon Sunday and fall through the afternoon. It will end for much of the Western Slope by midnight. Rain could briefly change to snow as it ends along Highway 50 from Delta to Montrose. Lingering snow in the mountains Monday morning around 7 AM will fade through the day.

Our Next 24 Hours

This evening will be partly to mostly cloudy and dry. We’ll cool from middle 50s at 6 PM to upper 40s at 8 PM and hold fairly steady through much of the night with slow cooling at times. Spotty areas of rain will begin increasing after about 2 AM. Low temperatures will be near 40 degrees around Grand Junction, 38 degrees around Montrose, 39 degrees around Delta, and 34 degrees around Cortez. Thursday will be mainly cloudy with periodic rain. There will be dry spells, too. High temperatures will be near 58 degrees around Grand Junction, 56 degrees around Montrose, 58 degrees around Delta, and 59 degrees around Cortez.

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