Snow to accompany Arctic air surge from Rockies to Plains, Midwest

Crashing temperatures and accumulating snow are no strangers to the Rockies and Plains, but the setup during the extended holiday weekend will allow a period of snow and push of Arctic air to extend more than 1,000 miles over the central United States, AccuWeather meteorologists warn.

Temperatures were surging over the central Rockies and Plains on Wednesday ahead of a blast of Arctic air that was just beginning to gather momentum near the Canada border.

Following high temperatures well into the 60s to near 70 F from Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Denver and Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Amarillo, Texas, temperatures will plunge 20-50 degrees in some places from their peak by Friday morning.

Snow to accompany Arctic air surge from Rockies to Plains, Midwest

At Denver, temperatures will dive from their afternoon high in the mid-60s on Wednesday to the upper 20s on Thanksgiving morning then slide downward even more — into the teens on Thursday night. In the Texas Panhandle, temperatures will head downward from their high mark near 70 on Thanksgiving Day to the upper 20s by Friday morning.

The impending temperature plunge will be accompanied by some snow, and not just a few flurries, but a bonified winter storm that could result in plowable snow in parts of the Plains and Rockies.

The track of the storm and specific setup will allow the heaviest snow to avoid the immediate Denver downtown area, but substantial now will fall well to the northeast of the city in southwestern Nebraska and southeastern Wyoming, where 3-6 inches is in store. The Denver metro area can expect 1-4 inches of snow to fall with the greatest amounts in the foothills to the immediate west of the city.

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Much heavier snow will fall over the higher foothills farther to the west, along the Front Range and well into the mountains over central Colorado, the ranges in Wyoming and the mountains in northern New Mexico from Thursday to Friday. In these areas, accumulations will range from 6-18 inches with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 24 inches. Slippery and snow-covered roads are likely along vast segments of Interstates 25, 70, 76 and 80 in the region.

Some snow will even spill farther to the west over Idaho and much of Utah from Thanksgiving Day to Friday. Several inches of snow will fall on the Wasatch Range, but even the low elevations of Salt Lake City to the west are likely to pick up a coating to an inch of snow, mainly on non-paved surfaces, from Thursday night to Friday morning.

Snow will also spread into the southern High Plains, where Amarillo, Texas, has the potential to pick up a coating to an inch of snow from Friday night to early Saturday. The last time accumulating snow fell in Amarillo was on March 16, 2023.

The legacy of snow from the storm will not end over the Rockies and High Plains. Soon after dropping southward, this storm will swing northeastward from Saturday night to Sunday. As the storm pivots eastward, it will begin to merge with another system rolling in from Canada while also tapping into moisture from the Gulf of Mexico.

The strengthening system will then deliver a stripe of snow to extend northeastward well out across the central Plains and on into the Great Lakes region from later Saturday to Sunday. How substantial that snow becomes will depend on the amount of moisture that is drawn in, how cold it is as the snow is falling and how quickly the new system from Canada links up with the storm over the central United States.

The first push of cold air will arrive over the central Plains on Thanksgiving Day and over the Great Lakes region during Thursday night and Friday. Temperatures will be slashed by 10-20 degrees on average from midweek highs.

A second push of cold air will allow snow to fall, road surfaces to cool and snow to accumulate. If this second cold push is not as potent, snow may melt as it falls on most paved and concrete surfaces, even where that occurs on Saturday night to Sunday morning, such as the zone from Kansas City, Missouri, to Chicago and Detroit.

Motorists traveling over Interstates 29, 35, 70, 80 and others over the Central states from Saturday night to Sunday should be prepared for patches of slippery travel from snow of varying intensity and road surface temperatures that range from near freezing to the upper 30s.

Where and when snow falls from the Intermountain West to the Great Lakes region will force officials to de-ice aircraft, which may add to airline delays. The greatest risk of flight cancellations will be over the airports in the Rockies, perhaps including Denver International Airport.

A chilly rain will spread eastward and fall just south of the zone of snow. The wet weather will spread over the southern Plains to the middle part of the Mississippi Valley and the Ohio Valley this weekend and may provide an additional easing of drought conditions in the region following the storm from earlier this week.

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