Probabilistic Heavy Snow and Icing Discussion
NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD
404 AM EDT Wed May 6 2026

Valid 12Z Wed May 06 2026 - 12Z Sat May 09 2026

...Southern Rockies and High Plains...
Day 1...

...Significant Colorado snowstorm continues this morning before
shifting to southern Colorado this afternoon and dissipating this
evening...

A multi-faceted positively-tilted trough is over the western U.S. A
southern stream shortwave trough will cross northern New Mexico
this morning, maintaining several more hours of mainly upslope lee-
side snow banding in the cold sector well behind a cold front and
ahead of a 1022mb sfc high shifting south from eastern Montana. A
northern stream reinforcing shortwave currently entering Utah will
swing across southwest Colorado this morning and over northern New
Mexico this afternoon which forces the precip focus to southern
Colorado this afternoon before cutting off the easterly flow and
bringing a quick end to snowfall this evening.

Day 1 WPC probabilities of additional snowfall >4" after 12Z are
50-90% from the Mosquito Range through the Sangre de Cristo Range
with 30-50% probs on the Palmer Divide, Raton Mesa, and 40-80% on
the San Juans. There are 30-50% probabilities for an additional >2"
for the southern and western Denver suburbs there the upslope
banding continues through about 16Z.


The probability of significant icing across the CONUS is less than
10 percent.



Today is the last regularly scheduled day of the season for the
WPC Winter Weather Desk. Resumption for significant winter weather
will occur as needed. Routine operations resume for the WWD in
later September.



Jackson