Mountain Travel Warning: Slick Roads and Accumulating Snow Tonight

Just a few days after fire weather warnings and near-record heat, mountain snow is back in the forecast across Western Colorado.

Because of course it is.

A colder system moving overhead Monday is dragging temperatures down fast behind a cold front, and it’s going to turn much of the region wet and downright chilly through tomorrow morning.

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The Biggest Impacts are Expectin in the Mountains

A Winter Weather Advisory is now in effect for the eastern Uinta, Elkhead, and Park Mountains as accumulating snow returns to higher elevations overnight into Tuesday morning.

Rabbit Ears Pass has about a 50 percent chance of seeing more than six inches of snow, while some of the higher stretches near the Uintas could push close to a foot.

Not exactly what people picture when they hear “mid-May.”

Most mountain ranges around the region are expected to pick up somewhere between two and six inches by sunrise Tuesday, with snow levels dropping as low as 6,000 feet in northern Colorado.

The lower elevations are mostly looking at cold rain and gloomy conditions Monday. This doesn’t look like a big severe weather setup either. Forecasters say widespread steady precipitation is more likely than strong thunderstorms thanks to thick cloud cover and cooler air hanging around most of the day.

Read More: Watering Your Lawn Won’t “Save” Colorado’s Water From California

The other major concern is the freeze potential returning to northwest Colorado.

The Yampa River Basin is expected to take the hardest hit Tuesday morning, where a hard freeze is looking increasingly likely. Freeze alerts are already posted for parts of the area, and temperatures could dip below freezing again Wednesday morning too.