A spring storm puttered out late this week, leaving only a few inches Friday and Saturday in most parts of the San Juan Mountains.
Warmer-than-expected temperatures, mixed with dryer air, disrupted what was expected to be a soggy system with up to 18 inches of snow above 10,000 feet in elevation.
“Really kind of piddly in terms of what we really got, especially in some of the areas we thought were going to be harder hit,” said Andrew Lyons, meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
The storm produced only 2 inches in the northwest San Juan Mountains, between 9,800 to 10,000 feet, he said. Further south, locations received 3-5 inches.
“Really a lot of slopes did not get favorable snowfall,” Lyons said.
The storm produced isolated showers Saturday.
Another storm is expected to arrive Sunday night and early Monday with isolated snow showers, turning into widespread snowfall Monday afternoon through Tuesday morning. Forecasters said this weekend’s storm brought cooler air into the region, which will help next week’s storm produce snow instead of rain.
They were calling for several feet of snow in the high San Juan Mountains, and 4-8 inches above 8,000 feet in elevation.
“We’re still kind or working on the amounts ... but we’re thinking similar but a little more than the last storm,” Lyons said. “It’s a spring storm, so they tend to be a little more difficult to forecast. But since we just had this other guy go through, we do have colder air in place, so that lends a little bit more confidence that we’re going to see some higher snow amounts.”
shane@durangoherald.com
