High winds battered the mountains and foothills over the last 24 hours. Highest gusts reported were Gold Hill 98 mph, Nederland 86 mph, Jefferson 83 mph, Georgetown 71 mph, and El Dorado Springs 69 mph. Winds will be dying down for the Front Range heading into Friday night.
However, those winds helped the Front Range to top out with highs in the 60s for afternoon highs.
A cold front will move into Colorado for the holiday weekend though. Saturday will be cooler with increasing clouds. Extremely cold temps throughout the day for NE Colorado near Sterling. Highs will be near 50 degrees for Denver...only 19 degrees for Sterling.
Light snow is a possibility as the cold front swings through Denver Saturday night into Sunday. Expect light snow to fall between Ft. Collins and Denver (and across NE Colorado) early on Sunday, then clear up later in the day. Our highs on Sunday will only be in the 20s for the afternoon. For New Year's Eve celebrations, the weather will be dry..but very, very cold. Overnight lows will be in the single digits and teens for the Front Range. Bundle up! Those wind chill factors will make it feel like it's 0 or below 0 at midnight on NYE. The eastern plains has a Wind Chill Warning from Saturday night through Monday for dangerously cold wind chills..-15 to -25 below zero.
New Year's Day should be cool, but dry and quiet. Skies will clear and temperatures will start in the single digits in the morning and reach near freezing in the afternoon.
We have you covered as the weather changes - Storm Shield App. In addition, Storm Shield PLUS can provide important information about approaching severe weather. Go to StormShieldAlerts.com or call 877-438-4977 for more information or text to word SHIELD to 21000.
