Arctic cold will engulf much of the western and central U.S. as two rounds of snow develop from the Rockies to the upper Midwest in the week ahead.
A southward plunge of the jet stream will be in place from the Rockies into the central states much of this week, allowing a pipeline of arctic air to remain entrenched over those regions. Two weather systems will tap into that cold air and produce snowfall where they track from the Rockies to the Plains and upper Midwest.
Early Week Snowmaker
The first snowmaker in this cold weather pattern entered the northern Rockies on Saturday and will impact parts of Wyoming, Colorado and western Nebraska into Sunday night.
The National Weather Service has issued winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories from parts of Wyoming and Colorado to the Nebraska panhandle. Conditions in these areas are likely to be difficult to drive in with gusty winds and bouts of snow.
Snow will persist until Monday in parts of Colorado and northern New Mexico.
Some snow may also streak eastward through parts of the Central Plains into the upper Midwest, from northern Kansas and southern Nebraska into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Monday into Monday night. Snow may linger in northern Michigan into early Tuesday.
Snowfall totals of 6 to 12 inches are likely for much of the higher elevations of Colorado and Wyoming, with some spots possibly reaching over a foot. The Denver area could see up to 6 inches of snowfall. In the Plains and upper Midwest, light snow accumulation is expected.
Cold Outlook
Cold air has already moved into the Rockies and Plains and it will be reinforced by another shot of arctic air by midweek.
On Sunday morning, daily record lows for Oct. 27 were set in Bozeman (8 degrees) and Billings, Montana (14 degrees).
Low temperatures much of this week will plunge 10 to 40 degrees below average for late October from portions of the West into the Plains.
Lows in the single digits above and below zero are expected in parts of the Rockies Wednesday and Thursday mornings. Temperatures in the teens may reach as far south as the Texas Panhandle.
Some daily record cold temperatures will be broken in the week ahead, especially in parts of the Great Basin and Rockies. Denver's low temperature on Thursday morning could come within a few degrees of the city's all-time coldest October temperature of minus 2 degrees.
Winds will also be gusty at times, making it feel even colder, with dangerous wind chills possible at times.
High temperatures will be 10 to 40 degrees below average beginning Sunday and lasting through midweek.
Temperatures will top out in the 20s in the Rockies and in the 30s in the Northern and Central Plains into the upper Midwest.
The cold conditions will slowly push south and eastward as the week progresses.
Colder-than-average temperatures will likely spread east of the Mississippi River late in the week, including parts of the South and Ohio Valley.
The East Coast may wait until next weekend for the below average temperatures to move in.
Second Round of Snow
The next round of snow will begin in Montana on Monday and then will slide southward into Wyoming and Colorado into Tuesday, on a similar path as the early week system.
Denver and Cheyenne, Wyoming, could see several more inches of snow Tuesday into Wednesday.
As this system continues to move eastward, a low pressure system will likely develop mid-to-late week as it tracks through the Midwest.
It is too early for details, but snow may fall on the backside of this system, as cold air moves in. This includes parts of the Plains, Midwest and Great Lakes region into late week. Gusty winds are also possible.
Relatively warm air will remain in place ahead of this system, allowing for widespread rain in the Midwest and East, with thunderstorms in parts of the South.
Be sure to check back to weather.com for updates on this next system.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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