After unseasonably warm temperatures last week, National Weather Service meteorologists say gusty winds, double-digit snowfall and cold temperatures could bring hazardous conditions starting Tuesday evening.

A winter weather advisory is in effect from 2 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11, until 11 a.m. Wednesday for mountainous areas near the Continental Divide, including Summit, Grand, Gilpin, Clear Creek and Park counties. The advisory area includes Rocky Mountain National Park, Berthoud Pass and Winter Park.

The storm is expected to boost snowpack levels across the state, which have lagged behind the 30-year normal.

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Between 4-10 inches of snow could fall in these areas, with chances for localized higher snow totals, according to the advisory. Winds could gust as high as 35 mph.

Arctic air is expected to accompany the storm, bringing the possibility of single-digit temperatures Tuesday night and high temperatures in the teens on Wednesday. Temperatures are forecast to drop below zero on Wednesday night into Thursday morning before warming up.

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The National Weather Service is expecting chances for snow every day until Sunday.

OpenSnow meteorologist Joel Gratz said he expects between 2 and 8 inches of snow to fall by Wednesday afternoon.

“The best chance of the most snow will likely be on Tuesday night when the amount of moisture is the highest and temperatures are in a good zone for snowflake formation,” Gratz wrote in his daily blog covering snow forecasts for Colorado.

After a lull in the weather pattern Thursday during the day, a more significant storm is expected to hit Colorado ahead of the Presidents Day holiday weekend, which often brings many travelers to Colorado’s mountains.

Gratz said the “strong storm” will bring a lot of moisture to all mountains from Thursday to Saturday, with accumulations between 1-2 feet for some areas. Around 3-8 inches of snow is expected to fall Friday with more than 1 inch of snow per hour. The northern mountains could see less snow Friday evening until the wind direction changes, bringing the possibility of higher snowfall overnight and into Saturday.

Snowfall is expected to be thicker during the front end of the Friday storm before turning into lighter, fluffier powder overnight as temperatures cool and winds slow down.

“With a lot of snow, a lot of moisture, a lot of wind, and a lot of people traveling for (Presidents’ Day) weekend, I expect some road issues/closures during the storm, so ‘allow extra time’ as they say, and have a ‘Plan B’ in case ‘Plan A’ doesn’t work out so well,” Gratz said.

Daily forecast blogs are available at OpenSnow.com. For more information on National Weather Service alerts, visit Weather.gov/bou. For road conditions, closures and other travel information, visit CoTrip.org.