6 inches of snow to hit mountains on New Year’s

Light snow will fall across Colorado’s mountains on New Year’s Day, dropping up to 6 inches on the state’s tallest peaks, according to the National Weather Service.

Snow is expected to start as early as 5 a.m. Thursday, but chances for winter weather will jump after 11 a.m. and continue through Friday evening, according to the weather service.

As of Tuesday morning, the snowfall that weather service forecasters expected to accumulate by 5 a.m. Friday included up to:

• 1 inch on U.S. 6’s Loveland Pass, Interstate 70’s Vail Pass, U.S. 40’s Berthoud Pass near Winter Park and Colorado 9’s Hoosier Pass near Breckenridge;
• 1 inch at Grand Lake, Winter Park, Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park and the Keystone Ski Area Summit;
• 2 inches on Colorado 125’s Willow Creek Pass near Granby, U.S. 34’s Milner Pass in RMNP and Colorado 14’s Cameron Pass near Fort Collins
• 3 inches on U.S. 40’s Muddy Pass near Kremmling
• 4 inches on U.S. 40’s Rabbit Ears Pass near Steamboat Springs
• And 6 inches on Mount Zirkel, the highest peak in the Park Range of the Rocky Mountains