The weather was shifting from freezing with light snow to sunny, warm and dry with temperatures topping 50 degrees Thursday, the start of a warming trend through Easter Sunday and into the following week, according to the National Weather Service.

The high temperature in metro Denver will reach 54 degrees Thursday, increasing to 65 degrees Friday and 68 degrees on Saturday, weather service forecasters said. By Monday and Tuesday, the daytime highs will approach 80 degrees in the city, forecasters said.

Still, early Thursday, snow blanketed the Colorado Front Range foothills. Interstate 25 south of  Castle Rock remained slick. And the night low temperature Thursday in Denver is expected to drop below freezing.