1st weekend of summer looking a lot like the middle of winter in Colorado and Montana
Big Sky Resort in Montana was greeted with snow on June 20, the day before summer officially started.
The summer season in the Northern Hemisphere officially arrived on Friday, but there were some regions in the United States that apparently didn't get the memo and spent the first day of summer trapped in a winter wonderland.
While some may fire up the barbecues and spend time doing outdoor activities this weekend, others will have to bundle up to avoid the cold over the next few days.
Such is the case for the northern region of Colorado, where snow was falling on the first day of summer at higher elevations, making some places above 9,000 feet look more like midwinter. The cold and snowy pattern is expected to continue in certain areas of Colorado that could get between 4 and 10 inches of snow over the weekend.
Snow was falling in the northern Colorado mountains this morning, above 9,000 feet at Rabbit Ears Pass (~9,400 feet). (Colorado Department of Transportation)
"A vigorous system diving into the Four Corners region will lower freezing levels tremendously. The highest totals are expected on elevations above 10,000 feet, where potentially over half a foot of snow could fall,” said AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Rossio. Some spots at elevations close to 8,000 feet may not be exempt from some snowfall and low temperatures, Rossio added.
Thanks to the great topographical variation of Colorado, due to the Rocky Mountains running through the state, weather conditions undergo drastic changes during most of the year. Even so, snow of this magnitude this time of year is relatively rare, said Rossio.
A light coating of snow that fell near West Yellowstone on Friday, June 21, 2019. (Garrett Harvey)
Average temperatures begin to climb to the range of 70-80 degrees Fahrenheit in Colorado next week, and more typical dry and warm conditions of the season are expected to return.
Farther north of Colorado, some parts of Montana were under a winter weather advisory on the first day of summer. And light snow fell in places there too, making for some unusual photos that were posted on social media. Garrett Harvey posted a photo on Twitter showing a coating of snow on the back patio of the house where he's visiting, which is near West Yellowstone. To mark the unusual occasion, Harvey, 17, used his finger to write the words "Summer 2019" in the snow. He said about a quarter of an inch of snow fell there.
A snowman graces the view of the Mount Washburn Fire Lookout webcam on the first day of summer 2019. (NPS)
"I was extremely surprised to see snow on the first day of summer, since I live in Florida," Harvey told AccuWeather in a message via Twitter. "It was a wonderful thing to experience in Montana," Harvey, who lives in Naples and plans to study meteorology in college, added.
And there was enough snow inside Yellowstone National Park that someone was able to build a snowman in front of the web cam that keeps a watch of the Mount Washburn, which is situated at an elevation of about 10,000 feet.
Download the free AccuWeather app for more precise details on the forecast for your area. Keep checking back for updates on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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