Snow finally forecast for Denver and Salt Lake City

Tonight and Friday, flakes may finally fly in Denver, ending a record-setting snowless streak. The predicted snowfall is part of a significant storm system that will sweep from the Rockies to the Great Lakes between today and Saturday.

Not a stitch of measurable snowfall, defined as more than a tenth of an inch, has come down yet this season in the Mile High City, beating out the previous record for the latest first snowfall in a calendar year by 17 days. The previous latest first snow occurred on November 21, 1934.

This snowless streak extends to last spring. Not since April 21, when 2.6 inches fell, has Denver seen measurable snow — a period of 230 days. That streak is nearing the record for the longest snow-free period at any time of year — 235 days — which spanned from March through October 1887.

Salt Lake City is also expected to receive its first snow of the fall today and Friday.

Denver and Salt Lake City have experienced limited precipitation and above-normal temperatures since September as a warm and dry pattern has dominated in the western United States.

Wildfires have even flared up in Colorado and Montana this month, which is practically unheard of.