Forecast Last Updated at Friday, March 12, 2010 at 5:58PM

Heavy Rain This Evening; Colder/Unsettled Weekend

A solid band of rain with the potential for an embedded thundershower is moving through this evening. There will be some heavy rainfall as this band of rain passes through the area. There could be some ponding on roadways and flooding on rivers and streams. Weekend weather will be colder with rain and snow showers (elevation dependent).

Friday Hi: 53 Lo: 41 Cloudy with rain, heavy at times, with a few thundershowers; SE wind 5-10 mph, becoming NW 10-15 after midnight with gusts to 30 mph on the mountaintops

Saturday Hi: 46 Lo: 33 Generally cloudy; Cooler; Daytime rain showers mixing with & changing to snow on the mountaintops; Snow showers for most areas Saturday night; NW wind 10-20 mph

Sunday Hi: 39 Lo: 32 Spring Forward! Mostly cloudy & colder; A few snow showers or flurries, with some rain/drizzle in the valleys; NW wind 5-15 mph

Monday Hi: 40 Lo: 32 Still mostly gray; Leftover snow or rain showers (elevation dependent); Still chilly

Tuesday Hi: 47 Lo: 31 Leftover early drizzle/flurries; Still lots of clouds; Temperatures still below normal

Further Out

Wednesday - Mostly cloudy; Seasonably cool; High in the upper 40s; Low in the lower 30s
Thursday - Becoming partly sunny; High in the lower 50s; Low in the upper 20s

Forecast Discussion

A strong cold front's coming and it will push through the mountains tonight. As the front is approaching this evening, a band of heavier showers and thundershowers are moving through. Rainfall rates could be quite heavy for a few hours this evening, and with all of the recent/melting snow cover, we're going to have to be very mindful of flooding.

After the front gets by us, colder air will arrive this weekend as large upper level low pressure system lumbers across the region. Rain showers will be sure bet for Saturday. As colder air arrives aloft, snow showers will be possible by Saturday afternoon across the higher elevations. Saturday night and Sunday, snow levels will drop to roughly 3,000 feet in elevation, allowing most folks to see a few snow showers. Some light accumulations will be possible at the mountaintop locations, but no significant accumulation for most High Country cities.

As the upper low pulls away, a slow moderation in temperatures will occur next week, although clouds will be difficult to shake. A system passing by to our south will spread more clouds into the area by midweek. We'll be watching for light rainfall potential as well.

Announcements

The fitness and nutrition articles previously appearing in this space now appear under the Health and Fitness item in the Outdoor Living Menu above. It's complete with a before and after photo comparison.

Using information from RaysWeather.Com

First, all data and forecasts on RaysWeather.Com are the intellectual property of RaysWeather.com, Inc. Here is our usage policy regarding rebroadcast or redistribution of any information from our site...

"The reader is not permitted to reproduce, retransmit, redistribute any weather data, forecasts, analysis, image, or any other product from this site to any other person or entity, in any format by any means. All information, data, and images contained on any page of this site are copyrighted by RaysWeather.Com, Inc. (unless otherwise noted) and is the property of RaysWeather.Com, Inc. Information, data, and images from this site may not be archived or stored for future use. Exceptions to this condition of use may only be made by express, written permission of RaysWeather.Com." See our Terms and Conditions page.

In short, if you do not have a written agreement with us to do so, you do not have permission to republish any information found on this site. If you work for a media entity (TV, radio, website, newspaper, etc.) and wish to republish information from this site, please contact us at ray@raysweather.com or call our offices at 828.264.2030.