Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Pueblo, CO
Issued by NWS Pueblo, CO
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771 FXUS65 KPUB 031536 AFDPUB Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pueblo CO 836 AM MST Wed Dec 3 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Snow to occur on the I-25 corridor and all higher terrain areas today with impactful accumulations expected, heaviest will fall during daylight hours which will somewhat limit accumulations on roadway surfaces. Heaviest snow will fall in the KCOS region this AM into early afternoon, with the heavy snow slowly moving south as the day progresses (See 4th paragraph below for timing) Northwest flow to prevail through the entire fcst period with several weaker disturbances moving through bringing on and off snow to mainly the central mountains. Gradual warming trend next 10 days. && .UPDATE... Issued at 819 AM MST Wed Dec 3 2025 For parts of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and Wet Mountains, and areas immediately around them, latest high-res guidance has continued with an upward trend in QPF, and resultant snow amounts, in these areas through today and into this evening. This seems fairly reasonable given the persistent and relatively deep upslope flow that is expected to materialize throughout the day, along with the broader synoptic support and isentropic ascent in play. Given this, the Wet Mountains, Wet Mountain Valley, and portions of Huerfano County, have been upgraded to a Winter Storm Warning, now in effect through tonight. && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... Issued at 213 AM MST Wed Dec 3 2025 Currently... Radar at 2 Am was showing snow areas of snow mainly north of US50, with clusters of snow areas from the northern San Luis valley east- northeast across EL paso and northern Pueblo counties. Areas webcams showing snow mostly on grassy areas as temps relatively warm at this time with mid 20s to mid 30s where precip is falling. OVer the far eastern plains temps were mild with mid 30s to mid 40s. It is going to snow over a good part of the region, with mainly the far eastern plains seeing the least amount of precipitation. Overall qpf values should be in the 0.25 to 0.50 amounts, with heavier amounts approaching an inch over the Sangre De Cristo mountains and wet mountains. Although widespread snow is near certain. most of the snow is going to fall during the daylight hours. Additionally temps are not going to be overly cold (mainly 29-32 I-25 corridor and larger valleys. This is likely going to limit accumulations, especially on roadway surfaces. With that said, some of the snow is likely to be heavy today, especially late this morning into mid afternoon. Overall, the heavier activity will spread north to south during the daylight hours. Storm total accumulations along the I-25 corridor will generally range from 3 to 9 inches with the heaviest amounts along the interstate down near the Walsenburg region. Mountains will see 6 to 12 inch amounts. Interestingly, snowfall amounts over the northern sections of the central mountains are not expected to be that high, and the Leadville region may not see any significant amounts with this event. Reviewing the statistical DESI guidance, with respect to heavy precip, the heaviest precip will fall during the morning into the mid afternoon time period in the KCOS region. For the PUB region extending down towards Walsenburg, the heaviest snow will fall from late this morning through the afternoon time period. The Trinidad region will see the heaviest snowfall from this afternoon into the evening hours. By this evening, most of the snow is expected to be generally south of the US-50 corridor, with the southern mountains and Raton Mesa region receiving the brunt of the snowfall. By the predawn hours tomorrow, snow will mainly be along the New Mexico border, especially the southern San Juans. Although this will be somewhat of an impactful event, the area is likely to see beneficial widespread precipitation. Additionally, it will be the southeast mountains that will benefit the most with this event, and this will certainly increase the snow pack over the southeast mtn region. /Hodanish && .LONG TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... Issued at 213 AM MST Wed Dec 3 2025 Northwest flow at mid levels will dominate the pattern during the long term fcst period. Several disturbances will move southeast in the flow aloft, but none of these systems are expected to be as strong as the system moving across today. Most of the precip with these disturbances will occur over the central mountains. Additionally. the longwave pattern will SLOWLY push eastward during this period, and this will allow for a slow gradual warming trend through the weekend into next week. By late next week we may see temps in the 60s and 70s over the region. && .AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z THURSDAY/... Issued at 426 AM MST Wed Dec 3 2025 Lots of low clouds and snow expected at the 3 taf sites, KPUB, KCOS and KALS through pretty much the entire forecast period. Anticipate predominant IFR conditions due to low cigs and snow. At times the snow will be light but periods of moderate to heavy snow are likely, especially this morning into the afternoon time period. This will cause runways to be slushy/snowpacked at times during heavier periods of snow. Snow may let up later this evening but expect low cigs to continue. && .PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory until 8 PM MST this evening for COZ060>062-065-076-077-081>086. Winter Weather Advisory until 2 AM MST Thursday for COZ066>071- 088. Winter Storm Warning until 2 AM MST Thursday for COZ072>075. Winter Storm Warning until 2 AM MST Thursday for COZ078>080- 087. && $$ UPDATE...SIMCOE SHORT TERM...HODANISH LONG TERM...HODANISH AVIATION...HODANISH