It’s like a battle of the masses – the air masses. As round two of an anticipated snowstorm approached, a swath of warm air moved in from the south and took the wind, or snow you could say, right out of its sails.

As of 2 p.m. Sunday, a winter storm warning that had been in effect through Tuesday night was canceled for Durango and surrounding communities, as a 2,500-foot thick layer of warmer air moved into the area and seeped into valleys, according to forecasters with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction. Forecaster Tom Renwick said snowfall may be limited to elevations above 8,000 feet.

“It just got too warm for you guys,” he said. “But the mountains are going to continue to get pommeled.”

Depending on the area of town, Durango received around 13½ inches of snow in the last seven days, and 3½ inches since Saturday. But you may want to hang up your snow shovel and grab your umbrella – Monday and Tuesday, it looks like rain.

In neighboring Cortez, they went from a certified drought to being saturated.

“For the first 21 days of February, they had 0.21 inches of precipitation,” said Renwick. “This last seven days, they’ve gotten 22.9 inches of snow, which is equivalent to 1.55 inches of rainfall, which is 144 percent of normal. It’s pretty cool, if you think about it.”

From time to time, it has felt a lot like winter, and a winter storm warning is still in place for the San Juan Mountains until 5 p.m. Tuesday, as 2 to 4 feet is expected.

The Colorado Department of Transportation’s road crews have been busy. Durango is part of Colorado’s Region 5, including U.S. highways 550 and 160 and Colorado Highway 285. In Durango’s section, more than 100 pieces of snow-removal equipment are available.

CDOT crews work on 278 of the state’s 522 avalanche paths, often with artillery and explosives, and avalanche mitigation will cause temporary spot closures on Red Mountain and Coal Bank passes Sunday and Monday.

“They’re clearing stuff out pre-emptively,” CDOT Spokeswoman Nancy Shanks said.

Last year, CDOT avalanche crews triggered 283 avalanches, managed 158 natural slides and spent 8,908 work hours on avalanche mitigation. There were 616 hours of road closures during the avalanche-control work.

Across the state, CDOT snowplows clear around 6 million lane miles annually – each lane mile is the distance plowed multiplied by the number of travel lanes, and Kent Baxstrom, CDOT maintenance 3 supervisor, who oversees 550 lane miles around Durango.

“The hardest part is keeping an eye on everything that is going on around you,” he said Sunday. “You’ve got a 12- to 14-foot front plow, and you’ve got your wing plow, so that’s another 9 feet sticking out there. You can actually clear about a lane and a half at a time.”

Baxstrom said it can be scary at times, driving a 65,000-pound dump truck equipped with 20 feet of plow blades among anxious drivers who are often in a hurry.

“The main thing is watching traffic and making sure they know what they are doing,” he said. “But there are definitely times when you get a little bit of fear going when you’re plowing down a hill, and the thing is trying to turn loose on you.”

With 13 years of plowing, he also offered some advice.

“Just give those trucks some room, and stay back 100 feet or more,” he said. “Anything on that road is coming off in that snow. Don’t be in a hurry. Conditions are a whole lot better behind our trucks than in front of them.”

On Sunday, snow fell through the afternoon, turning to rain at times around Durango, and even more fell in the mountains.

Local ski resorts are reveling as conditions improve.

Wolf Creek, with 16 inches in the last 24 hours, has reported more than 74 inches of snow – 6 feet-plus – in the last week, with a possible 4 more feet in the next few days.

Purgatory has reported 8 new inches of snow since Saturday, with 47 inches in the last seven days. The resort could get 2 feet or more by early this week.

Telluride has received 10 new inches as of Sunday morning, with 45 inches in the last week, but it is Taos Ski Valley in New Mexico that still leads the nation with a three-day total of 38 inches of snow.

For now, mostly rain, with a bit of snow, is expected for the Durango area through Tuesday, and a winter storm warning has been canceled.

“There’s still a chance we’ll bring it back,” Renwick said about the winter storm warning.

On roads leading in and out of town, CDOT crews are still working 12-hour storm shifts.

“If you see those guys and get a chance to talk to them, tell them thanks,” Baxstrom said. “A little thanks goes a long way.”

bmathis@durangoherald.com