Cold, rainy first autumn day with snow in the mountains

It's going to be a cold, wet weekend in Colorado, as rain showers and thunderstorms are heading to the metropolitan area and the mountains are bracing for snow, according to the National Weather Service.

Friday will be the last day of above-average temperatures and dry weather before thunderstorms and snow hit Colorado on Saturday, NWS meteorologists said in a hazardous weather forecast.

In Denver, highs will drop from a forecasted 31 degrees on Friday to 20 degrees on Saturday – a difference of almost 20 degrees – according to NWS forecasters. Temperatures will drop even more on Sunday, with highs of around 13 degrees expected.

Showers and thunderstorms are expected to move into the metropolitan area around 3 p.m. Saturday and increase in intensity throughout the evening, forecasters said. The stormy weather will continue in the Denver area on Sunday and ease around noon.

At higher elevations, thunderstorms will mix with snow showers, NWS meteorologists said.

Near Rocky Mountain National Park – at an altitude of about 2,300 meters – the thunderstorms and rain showers will turn to snow around 8 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, according to NWS meteorologists.

Even if it starts snowing, there could still be thunderstorms, meteorologists said. Up to three inches of snow could fall in the park.

Longs Peak, the highest point in Rocky Mountain National Park at 14,259 feet, could see up to 8 inches of snow on Saturday, according to NWS meteorologists.