NWS releases forecast for storm mid-October

While a statewide snow forecast for Colorado is yet to be released on the National Weather Service website, the Grand Junction branch has tweeted out a map of the region they cover, showing an expected 24 inches of snow in some high elevation areas from October 22 through October 25, with widespread snowfall elsewhere.

The highest totals – up to 24 inches – are expected to land in the mountains found southwest of Aspen. Meanwhile, up to 18 inches of snow are expected in the San Juans near Telluride, the mountains near Steamboat Springs, and the mountains north of Glenwood Springs. Elsewhere in the Aspen area, 12 to 18 inches of snow are expected. While the recently released mapping doesn’t show the state’s central mountains and the Front Range, these regions have previously been forecasted as getting less snow.

According to the National Weather Service, these numbers will continue to change as this storm system is still far away – moving out of the Bering Sea as of Wednesday night. To put that in perspective, that’s still about 3,000 miles from Colorado.

Previous reports have shown the heaviest snowfall landing on Sunday. Either way, it’s looking like cooler temperatures and high country snow are a safe bet.