A snowstorm that could leave up to 2 inches of snow in Cortez and more than 2 feet on Wolf Creek Pass over 2½ days is expected to move through Southwest Colorado late Sunday night or early Monday morning.
Scott Stearns, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction, said up to 18 inches of snow is expected from the multiple-day storm in Telluride and Silverton, and up to 28 inches could fall on Wolf Creek Pass.
“As far as Durango, that area, the heaviest snow, it looks to be on Tuesday morning, early Tuesday morning. ... Then the storm will move off to the east Tuesday evening or Tuesday night,” Stearns said Sunday.
The high temperature Monday in Montezuma County could reach 40 degrees; the overnight low, 22 degrees.
There’s a 50% chance of snow – about a half-inch – on Tuesday, with a high near 29 degrees, and a low of 11.
A winter storm watch is in effect from Sunday night through Tuesday night for much of the Western Slope including the Eastern San Juan Mountains.
The winter storm watch says travel could be difficult to impossible during the storm, which might make Monday’s and Tuesday’s commutes in the morning and the evening difficult.
According to Natural Resources Conservation Service’s SNOTEL, Southwest Colorado’s snowpack for the San Juan, Animas, Dolores and San Miguel river basins is only 69% of the 30-year average as of Sunday.
A La Niña weather pattern, which typically means less seasonal snowfall in Southwest Colorado, has formed. La Niña has a 95% chance of extending through March and a 50% chance of extending through June, according to the National Weather Service’s Climate Predication Center.
parmijo@durangoherald.com