Residents who love shoveling snow have something to look forward to on Sunday. The National Weather Service Grand Junction office forecasts Southwest Colorado will receive 3 to 6 inches of snow between 5 p.m. Saturday and 11 p.m. Sunday.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Tom Renwick of the Grand Junction office said the heaviest snowfall will occur from about midnight through the rest of the night, with an inch or two falling over Sunday morning and midday and tapering off in the afternoon.
He said blustery winds of just 5 to 10 mph could occur, but overall, conditions over should be calm through the rest of the weekend.
Temperatures are projected to be slightly lower than normal for this time of year. The third week of January usually sees high temperatures reaching into the 40s, but current forecast highs are hovering in the low- to mid-30s. By Wednesday or Thursday, temperatures should climb back into the 40s, he said.
“Which makes sense because we have high pressure moving in,” he said.
While Montezuma County and the Durango area can expect up to about 6 inches, the higher elevations in the San Juan Mountains could receive up to 18 inches of snow.
From Durango’s perspective, the impending snowstorm might seem milder than the one that swept through the area last weekend. But the overall impact of the storm is still substantial.
“The amount of snow that Salt Lake (area) is forecasting, and their neck of the woods is, oh, 50 inches,” Renwick said.
He said atmospheric rivers, which once were called Pineapple Express because of their origins in the tropical Pacific Ocean near Hawaii.
As for the next significant snow, some bouts of snowfall might occur through mid week, but nothing prominent appeared in the forecast as of Saturday, he said.
cburney@durangoherald.com
