After days of remarkably warm weather and gusty winds, both temperatures and conditions will be markedly worse on Wednesday.

Denver's temperature peaked at 73 degrees just after 3 p.m. today, 2 degrees short of record high for the date, but by 3 a.m. the city could see freezing drizzle and snow as temperatures slip toward the 20s, forecasters said.

A cold front will enter northeast Colorado late tonight and slowly push south across eastern Colorado Wednesday and Thursday, delivering flurries, freezing drizzle and patchy fog behind the front, according to the National Weather Service.

Morning commuters in some parts of the metro area could see up to half an inch of snow, forecasters said. Denver has a slight chance of snow during the day tomorrow, but the city is in line for up to an inch Wednesday night, forecasters said.

Snow could linger through Thursday night on the Front Range.

Parts of Fremont and Teller counties, as well as the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, are under a winter storm watch from early Wednesday evening to late Wednesday night, with the chance for 8 to 16 inches in the span of a few hours, the National Weather Service said this afternoon.

Meanwhile, a winter weather advisory is in effect from noon Wednesday until noon Thursday for the eastern Sawatch Mountains, the upper Rio Grande Valley and the eastern San Juan Mountains, including Independence Pass, Mount Elbert, South Fork, Creede and Wolf Creek Pass.

Forecasters expect 5 to 10 inches with locally heavier amounts possible, driven by winds up to 20 mph.

The forecast for the Eastern Plains Wednesday calls for blustery, wet conditions over much of the region, with winds still gusting up to 25 mph in some areas.