Sunny, mild Friday gives way to winter weather warning

Storm clouds move across Lakewood bringing rain, snow and winter weather warnings.

LAKEWOOD – Sunshine and temperatures near 60 degrees will give way to another blast of winter tonight and Saturday, bringing and end to what turned out to be a brief respite from spring snowstorms.

National Weather Service forecasters issued a Winter Storm Warning effective from 9 p.m. tonight through 6 a.m. Saturday morning ahead of a storm moving westward across the state.

The heaviest snowfall is expected to spread across the metro area and the Plains late Friday night through Saturday morning, although the exact track of the storm remains uncertain.

It could produce 5 to 10 inches of snow in the Lakewood area and, coupled with predicted  strong north winds up to 35 mph, could result in blowing and drifting snow and into Saturday morning, according to the NWS  forecasts.

At times, the forecasts say, as much 2 inches an hour could fall in the metro area..

The weekend system would be the fourth storm to hit Lakewood in eight days.

Parts of the city have seen nearly 14 inches of snow in the past eight days.

That moisture is badly needed. In the 10 months before last week’s blizzard, precipitation in the metro area was 22.7 inches below normal. The June through February normal is 39.6 inches. This year the June-February total was 16.9 inches, according to Weather Service Records.

The moisture from the recent storms provides at least a temporary break from the season-long dry conditions that had left much of the area prone to wildfire.

“It’s absolutely changed it. It changed it for the short run, if not the long run,” said Jacki Kelley, spokeswoman for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.

   “We are going to have to have quite a bit more moisture for us to feel it has put a dent in the fire season,” Kelley said.

   Rocco Snart, the sheriff’s Fire Management Officer, said temporary relief is about all that can    be expected unless snow and rain and cool temperatures stick around for a spell.

   “A lot of that depends on how quickly it dries out.  If we continue to see the cooler

    temperatures and things like that, I think its going to help us out some,” Snart said.

   “It’s going to take quite a while for the heavier fuels, the larger fuels, to get hold of any of this moisture.”