Summary:

It'll be dry and sunny on Saturday morning, then look for rain and high elevation snow showers from Saturday afternoon through Wednesday night. Next Thursday through Sunday (10/5) should return to dry and sunny weather.

Details:

Friday started dry and stayed that way for most areas, though a cluster of storms did pop up over the central mountains and San Juans late in the day.

Now on Saturday morning, the day will start out dry and sunny but clouds will build during the afternoon with showers over most mountains starting around 2pm and continuing through the evening.

A heavy batch of rain will then move through western Colorado late Saturday night through Sunday afternoon. This slug of rain is currently over Utah and will slowly move east during the next 24 hours.

^{Radar at 7am on Saturday morning. Source: Weathertap.com}

As the heavier rain moves across Colorado on Sunday, expect snow to fall above about 11,000ft, so the highest peaks will see accumulating snow.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday will all be fall-like days with cooler air, some clouds, and rain and snow showers. This weather will mostly be confined to the central and northern mountains, but parts of the San Juans will see action as well.

Snow showers could fall over 10,000ft at any time on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, though the best chance for accumulating snow will occur on Wednesday as temperatures cool with a secondary storm dropping down from the northwest. This second storm won't be quite as strong as some of the models thought, so you can get excited for some snow but I don't think accumulations will be more than a few inches for most areas of the central and northern mountains (roughly north of Aspen).

All of the cool and stormy weather will exit stage left on Wednesday night leaving sunny and dry weather for Thursday, Friday, and next weekend. It looks like we'll be back to the warm autumn weather we've seen lately, so you'll get at least one more weekend to enjoy non-winter sports in the mountains. Man, I'm ready for the snow to come, but I guess crystal clear blue skies, snow-capped peaks, and golden leaves will have to do for now:-)

JOEL GRATZ