Southwest storm packs snow, lightning, hail and rain

Residents and visitors broke out their winter coats and boots Monday morning in Durango with the arrival of a Pacific storm that brought up snow to the San Juan Mountains, including 1 foot at Purgatory Resort, by the afternoon. Visitors to downtown Durango cross College Avenue at Main Avenue on Monday as seen through the windows of the General Palmer Hotel.

Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald

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Residents and visitors broke out their winter coats and boots Monday morning in Durango with the arrival of a Pacific storm that brought up snow to the San Juan Mountains, including 1 foot at Purgatory Resort, by the afternoon. Visitors to downtown Durango cross College Avenue at Main Avenue on Monday as seen through the windows of the General Palmer Hotel.

Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald

Residents broke out the winter coats and boots Monday morning with the arrival of a Pacific storm that brought significant snow to the San Juan Mountains, including more than 1 foot at Purgatory Resort. More snow above 8,500 feet in elevation is expected Tuesday.

Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald

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Residents broke out the winter coats and boots Monday morning with the arrival of a Pacific storm that brought significant snow to the San Juan Mountains, including more than 1 foot at Purgatory Resort. More snow above 8,500 feet in elevation is expected Tuesday.

Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald

A Pacific storm brought up to 1 foot of snow to the San Juan Mountains as of Monday afternoon, and storm totals were expected to climb through Tuesday morning.

A storm cell packed with hail and lightning moved through Cortez about 3:15 p.m. Monday, and it arrived in Durango about an hour later.

Another burst of snow was expected later Monday night, when a band of moisture was expected push its way through the Western Slope, said Tom Renwick, meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Most of the snowfall will occur above 8,500 feet in elevation, he said, but lower elevations also should see snow.

Purgatory Resort reported 1 foot of new snow as of Monday evening, with another 7 inches expected overnight. The mountain is open daily with three trails.

“We’ll open more terrain as conditions allow,” said Kim Oyler, spokeswoman for Purgatory.

Drivers setting out Tuesday should check www.cotrip.org for road conditions. At 8 p.m. Monday, the chain law was in effect on Coal Bank, Molas and Red Mountain passes on U.S. Highway 550 north of Durango, with similar conditions on Wolf Creek Pass on U.S. Highway 160.

“The bulk of the precipitation will die down during the day Tuesday,” meteorologist Michael Charnick of the National Weather Service said at 8 p.m. Monday. “While there may be some reduced visibility from fog, it shouldn’t be a problem unless it takes place in heavy snow. By midnight tomorrow (Tuesday), everyone should be completely dry.”

The storm is expected to blow out of the region by sunset Tuesday, Charnick said.

Another system may arrive Thursday morning, but it likely will favor northwest Colorado, in the Steamboat Sprints area. A third system could arrive Sunday, but the center of that storm is expected to travel south of Durango. And a fourth storm may arrive Tuesday or Wednesday, but that’s too far out to predict with a great deal of certainty, Renwick said.

“We’re certainly breaking out of that nothing, nothing, nothing,” he said.

shane@durangoherald.com Herald Staff Writer Ann Butler contributed to this story.