Up to a foot of snow possible in metro area Thursday

A snowstorm moving across Colorado on Thursday could drop a foot of snow in the metro area and up to 16 inches on the state’s tallest mountains, according to the National Weather Service.

The weather service’s forecast range on Wednesday for how much snow was expected to fall in Denver during the upcoming winter storm was wide. Metro area snow forecasts included:

• 1 to 8 inches in Broomfield, Superior and at Denver International Airport
• 1 to 9 inches in Arvada and Denver
• 1 to 11 inches in Aurora, Golden, Lakewood and Littleton
• 1 to 12 inches in Centennial
• 1 to 13 inches in Parker and Castle Rock

There is a 66% chance that Denver will see more than 2 inches of snow, a 41% chance of more than 4 inches of snow, a 26% chance of more than 6 inches, a 16% chance of more than 8 inches and a 1% chance the city will see more than a foot of fresh snowfall, according to the weather service.

Snow is forecast to start in Denver as early as 5 a.m. Thursday and continue until as late as 10 a.m. Friday, according to hourly forecasts from the weather service.

As of Wednesday morning, the weather service’s snow forecasts for Colorado’s mountains and foothills included:

• 1 to 6 inches in Estes Park
• 1 to 8 inches in Boulder and Nederland
• 2 to 8 inches on Hoosier Pass, Kenosha Pass and the Keystone Ski Area Summit
• 2 to 9 inches on Muddy Pass and Willow Creek Pass
• 2 to 12 inches in Evergreen
• 3 to 10 inches in Eldora and on Loveland Pass, Rabbit Ears Pass and Vail Pass
• 3 to 12 inches at Floyd Hill, Coal Creek Canyon, Milner Pass in Rocky Mountain National Park and Winter Park
• 4 to 14 inches on Cameron Pass
• 4 to 16 inches on Mount Zirkel, the tallest peak of Colorado’s Park Range of the Rocky Mountains
• 5 to 15 inches on Berthoud Pass