Colorado’s Weirdly Calm December Has an Expiration Date

Colorado is seeing the kind of weather that makes forecasts short and ski reports awkward.

It’s calm, it’s dry, and it feels more like late March than late December.

But don’t get too comfortable.

Get our free mobile app

Unsettled Weather Returns to Colorado Later This Week

By Thursday, confidence increases that a plume of anomalous moisture pushes into the region from the west and southwest.

The National Weather Service says that moisture levels could exceed 200% of normal around Thursday, which sounds impressive, and it is, but there’s a catch.

Precipitation will favor the higher terrain, with light snowfall mainly in the mountains. Lower elevations may see little more than clouds, especially if temperatures stay warm.

Temperatures are still a wildcard. Persistent warmth could allow many locations, even some higher elevations, to climb above freezing during the day.

That keeps snow levels high and snow accumulation low, adding uncertainty to the system's overall impact.

What This Means for the Majority of Western Colorado

Dry and mild weather carries us through midweek, then things turn more unsettled late Thursday into the weekend.

Expect light mountain snow, lots of questions about snow levels, and no clear signal for a major winter storm just yet.