Up to 60 cm of snow is expected in the Colorado mountains this weekend

A strong, cold low pressure system has moved into the region, bringing big changes to Colorado's weather this weekend.

After a 24-day period of dryer-than-average weather, most of the state is bracing for precipitation to arrive. Rain will fall in the Denver metro area and Front Range beginning Friday afternoon.

The highlands will get a taste of winter this weekend, potentially seeing up to 60cm of snow in some of our southern mountains.

Where weather could impact travel, winter weather advisories and winter storm warnings have been issued this weekend for some mountain areas south of I-70. About 1 to 3 inches should be visible in most areas above 9,000 feet this weekend.

Rain will likely begin along the I-25 corridor in the afternoon and continue into early Sunday morning, with up to 0.5 inches of rain falling across the Front Range. While there is not expected to be a complete watering down over the weekend, it will certainly start out cooler and wetter.

Temperatures will only warm to the low to mid 50s on Friday and Saturday, a drop of nearly 20 degrees from the 70 degrees prevailing in the most recent forecast.

Sunday will bring near-normal temperatures and cloud cover will clear, with sunshine and 70s returning next week.