Another round of snow is predicted to hit Southwest Colorado this weekend.
Mike Charnick, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Grand Junction, said that Saturday is expected to be sunny and clear, with a high around 40 degrees.
But a storm should move into the region after midnight Saturday, bringing snow that could start as early as 4 a.m., he said. Snow should keep falling into Monday morning.
In Montezuma County, accumulations of 3 to 6 inches are expected.
In the high country and along mountain passes, anywhere from 5 to 10 inches of snow could fall, he said. Travel is expected to be affected.
Charnick said the storm is moving off the Pacific Coast and should bring snow to the Sierra Mountains before moving inland and hitting Colorado.
“This storm is trending colder,” he said.
Forecasters at the popular OpenSnow.com website seem to agree.
Joel Gratz, a meteorologist for the website, wrote in a post Friday that the deepest totals of snow could reach 10 to 15 inches in the southern part of Colorado.
Gratz said southwest winds Saturday night could put the storm right on track for Southwest Colorado. He said the winds will then shift to west-southwest and west by later Sunday and Sunday night.
“A southwest wind favors Wolf Creek, Purgatory and Silverton, so these areas should see good snow on Sunday,” he wrote. “A west-southwest wind favors Crested Butte and Monarch ... and also Silverton and Wolf Creek, so these areas should see good snow Sunday midday through Sunday evening.”
The storm comes on the heels of a snowstorm last weekend that left Durango buried, dropping up to 14 inches of snow in some areas.
Despite the welcomed snowfall, Southwest Colorado still has a way to go to make up its snowpack levels.
As of Friday, the Animas, Dolores, San Miguel and San Juan basins were at 69 percent of normal, historic snowpack levels.
The data are compiled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service.
Statewide, snowpack is at 93 percent of normal averages.
jromeo@durangoherald.com
