A significant winter storm moving into Southwest Colorado on Saturday evening is expected to dump up to a foot of snow by Tuesday morning.
The National Weather Service released a winter storm warning that forecasts between 8 and 12 inches of snow in Southwest Colorado from Pagosa Springs to Southeast Utah, including the towns and cities of Cortez, Durango, Bayfield and Ignacio.
The warning is in effect from 11 p.m. Saturday to 5 a.m. Monday. It says patchy, blowing snow could make travel very difficult.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Brianna Bealo, who works in the Grand Junction office, said the storm has a huge footprint and stands to impact the whole country.
The storm formed in a great area of low pressure in the Gulf of Alaska, moved into the Pacific Northwest and has been dropping southeast. As it passes the San Juans Mountains, it’s expected to swing into the plains and continue northeast toward New York, she said.
The Southern San Juan Mountains and valleys south of the I-17 corridor stand to receive the most snow from the weather event. She said the storm will also reach areas as far north as Grand Junction, which could receive between 1 and 4 inches of snow in the lower elevations and 6 to 8 inches higher up.
“There’s warnings out for the Southeast Utah mountains, for the Uncompahgre Plateau, for the Grand Mesa,” she said. “So a substantial portion of Eastern Utah and Western Colorado are going to be impacted by the storm.
“So this storm is going to impact the entire country pretty much,” she said.
The immediate winter storm is just the first in a series of three storms forecast to move through Southwest Colorado in the coming days.
Bealo said the storm starting its sweep over Montezuma County on Saturday evening will be over upstate New York on Wednesday. By that time, a new winter storm system will have reached Southwest Colorado, following the same path as the first storm.
Two to 4 inches of snow was forecast for Montezuma County on Saturday night, with 4 to 8 inches on Sunday.
“While my family in upstate New York is getting dumped on by today’s storm on Wednesday, we’ll be seeing the next storm out here,” she said. “Looking even further out, there’s yet another one lining up, potentially, for next weekend. So we’ve definitely moved into a much more unsettled pattern with the new year.”
Temperatures are forecast to remain low through the new week, reaching lows of 20 degrees and 14 degrees Saturday and Sunday night with highs of 27 degrees and 26 degrees Sunday and Monday, respectively.
That’s good news for skiers and snowboarders because the low temperatures will preserve accumulated snow, she said.
cburney@durangoherald.com
