First significant mountain snow of the season as rain soaks Denver on Tuesday

DENVER – As the first full day of fall arrives in Colorado, the state is seeing its first winter weather advisory of the season in parts of the High Country where several inches of snow is expected as the Denver metro and plains stay socked in cloudy skies and rain.

“Parts of Rocky Mountain National Park, parts of Summit County will pick up around 4 to 10 inches of snow by tonight. Some of those heavier totals are going to be pretty high up over those high mountain passes, but that snow level does drop to around 9,000 feet,” said Denver7 chief meteorologist Lisa Hidalgo. “For the plains, it could be around 1 to 2 inches of rain, especially over parts of northeastern Colorado.”

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Colorado’s Northern Front Range Mountains remain under the winter weather advisory until 6 p.m Tuesday. National Weather Service (NWS) forecasters in Boulder said slippery and slushy conditions should be expected on high mountain passes.

“Wet snow expected. Total snow accumulations (between) 4 to 10 inches on high mountain passes, with locally a foot or more on highest peaks along the Front Range, and little or no snow accumulation in mountain valleys including the towns of Silverthorne and Winter Park,” wrote NWS forecasters.

Denver7 reporter Ali Jennerjahn was monitoring conditions along I-70 near the Eisenhower Tunnel on Tuesday and said while the flakes were coming down, the snow was not sticking to the ground and there were no travel alerts.

On Tuesday morning, the Loveland Ski Area shared video of the mountain turning into a winter wonderland.

You can watch her 11 a.m. report in the video player below.

Colorado’s first significant snow of the season: A look at I-70 near Eisenhower Tunnel

“The snow is coming down at Loveland Ski Area today – Our snowmaking team is on standby and hopes to fire up the snowguns in about 10 days, as we look ahead to the 2025–2026 ski season. Loveland Ski Area is planning to open in late October to early November, weather and conditions permitting,” said Loveland Ski Area in a news release.

Rocky Mountain National Park on social media said Tuesday that Trail Ridge Road was temporarily closed on the east side of the park at Rainbow Curve and on the west side at Colorado River Trailhead,

trail ridge road closure tuesday september 23.jpg

While the winter weather advisory remains in effect for the mountains, no weather alerts are in effect for the Front Range, Denver metro or plains but wet roads should be expected for the evening commute on Tuesday.

Denver7 is monitoring conditions and will publish a weather blog with the latest alerts if issued by the NWS.

loveland ski snow tues sept 24.png — A look at the snow falling at Loveland Ski Area. Tuesday, September 23, 2025.

Hidalgo said skies will quickly clear out overnight with Wednesday bringing “quite a bit more sunshine” to the state with Denver waking up to temperatures in the upper 40s before warming to a high of around 70 degrees.

Temperatures rebound to near 80 degrees on both Thursday, Friday and into the weekend.