Mother Nature to unload a shot of mid-April snow across the Rockies

A dramatic change in the weather pattern is erasing what's been a milder start to April across the Intermountain West, and AccuWeather meteorologists say a developing storm system will allow winter to make its presence felt in an even bigger way.

Temperatures across Colorado, Wyoming and Utah have averaged around 3-5 degrees Fahrenheit above normal so far in April. In fact, cities such as Denver and Salt Lake City were hovering around 80 degrees just over a week ago. Average temperatures typically range from near 30 F in Yellowstone National Park to nearly 60 F in Salt Lake City and Denver during the first half of April.

However, this seasonable trend has come to an end this week as the jet stream continues to plunge south across the western United States. Temperatures have already been trending lower.

The core of the cold air will cause temperatures across the northern and central Rocky Mountains to drop to 15-25 degrees below normal into the second half of the week.

This dip in the jet stream will also cause a storm to swing southeastward across the western U.S.

Chilly air, which tends to be drier than warmer air, and expansive drought conditions over the West will force the storm to pull in moisture from other locations to fuel any precipitation.

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The storm has able to pull in moisture from a storm spinning over the Great Lakes region as well as the Gulf states, allowing areas of rain and snow to develop.

This radar image was captured Wednesday afternoon, April 14, 2021 and shows snow spreading through the region. (AccuWeather)

Snow will continue to build north across Wyoming and into Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska into Thursday.

Snow levels are expected to drop to around 5,000-7,000 feet across much of this region. However, farther south and west in Colorado, snow levels can linger closer to 9,000 feet. This can still cause hazardous travel conditions on some mountain passes, including Interstate 70 and Interstate 25.

More widespread slippery travel conditions, closed roads and other travel disruptions are expected across the portions of the Rocky Mountains and High Plains where snow levels will be lower.

The heaviest snow will be largely confined to the highest elevations of Wyoming and Colorado, where up to a foot of snow can accumulate. This is also the most likely location for the AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 36 inches to occur.

AccuWeather meteorologists warn that snowfall totals may fluctuate in some locations, especially in Denver and along the High Plains.

For places along the Colorado Front Range like Denver, precipitation is expected to be a mix of rain and snow for much of the storm through Thursday. However, as the colder air arrives later Thursday into Friday, accumulating snow will drop to lower elevations. Denver could see a fresh 2-4 inches by Friday morning, creating some slippery travel for the morning commute.

Factors such as the exact track of the storm, the amount of moisture it draws in and how far south the cold air digs, as well as how soon, will all have an impact on the snowfall in Denver.

Since 2000, Denver has averaged about 4.8 inches of snow for the month of April, according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Mary Gilbert.

"Denver is actually coming out of its second-snowiest and second-wettest March in the history of the city," Gilbert said. Last month, the city recorded a whopping 34 inches of snowfall, and was about an inch away from topping the record of 35.2 inches from March of 2003, according to the National Weather Service (NWS) on Twitter.

This storm may bring an area of heavy snowfall, and even blizzard conditions, to western Kansas and Oklahoma Friday as it begins to emerge from the Rocky Mountains.

By the weekend, this storm could add to the soggy pattern that is setting up across the Southeast.

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