textproduct: Grand Junction

KEY MESSAGES

- A few inches of snow is on tap for the northern Colorado mountains late Wednesday into Thursday. Slippery stretches will develop over mountain passes.

- Warming days, cool nights, and dry weather persist through the weekend for most.

- A pattern change is possible early next week.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT/

Issued at 145 PM MST Tue Jan 27 2026

A fast-moving shortwave trough will clip northeast Utah and northwest Colorado Wednesday night. This system will bring a nice uptick in synoptic forcing and enough moisture to the northern mountains for a quick-hitting round of mountain snow. Although moisture will not be plentiful, there is a 40-60% chance for 4"+ of mountain snow along the spine of the Park Range with adjacent mountain ranges seeing 1-3" of light, fluffy snow. Slippery stretches will develop over mountain passes, especially Wednesday night into Thursday morning.

Elsewhere, winds will pick up as this system moves through but dry weather persists.

LONG TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/

Issued at 145 PM MST Tue Jan 27 2026

Light mountain snowfall looks to continue due to favored orographics through Thursday afternoon over the NW Colorado mountains as a shortwave exits the region but any additional accumulations appear minimal.

High pressure ridge remains across the west with northwest flow overhead through the end of the week, with fairly benign weather aside from the light orographic snow periodically over the northern mountains as these weak shortwaves ride up and over the ridge and down the Front Range and Plains, clipping our northwest Park Range mountains. The ridge of high pressure will push further east into the Great Basin this weekend with the ridge axis sliding overhead by Monday of next week, so mostly dry conditions remain with temperatures moderating to around 10 degrees above normal during this time. The ridge does show signs of breaking down with a trough entering the Pacific Northwest and Intermountain West early next week before tracking across the area. There is still quite a bit of uncertainty though as latest model runs are further north with this trough but unsettled weather does look probable for at least the mountains early next week.

AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z WEDNESDAY/

Issued at 1012 AM MST Tue Jan 27 2026

VFR conditions are forecast through the TAF period with terrain-driven winds and mostly clear skies.

GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

CO...None. UT...None.