DENVER – An upper-level low over the southern Rockies helped produce a round of moisture Saturday, which is resulting in snowfall from Texas to Wyoming.
Precipitation estimates were as high as 10 inches of snow outside of Denver, with a bit more snow on the way, which could help catapult totals to 1-2 feet.
Nearly 1.4 million people were under a Winter Storm Warning, and 6.9 million were under a Winter Weather Advisory.
Denver was one of the communities under a Winter Weather Advisory, where upwards of 5 inches of snow was expected to fall.
Some passes through central Colorado were temporarily closed to allow crews to safely remove the snowfall.
The Colorado Department of Transportation required commercial traffic traveling on Interstate 70 to have chains.
POTENTIAL NOR’EASTER THREATENS SNOW IN NORTHEAST NEXT WEEK IN WAKE OF SPRING-LIKE WARMTH
Communities in New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska were also expected to receive as much as 8 inches of snow.
Maybe one of the surprise locations to win out in the accumulation bucket is south of Amarillo, Texas, where 8-12 inches of snow was expected to fall over the weekend.
The Texas Panhandle city only sees about 18 inches of snow annually, meaning the storm system could produce nearly a year’s worth of snow in just one weekend.
After the frozen precipitation wraps up Sunday, it’ll be all about the rain, as the storm system makes its way through the South.
“It is going to link up with some Gulf of Mexico moisture, and when that happens, it’s really going to come down hard in the form of rain for the Gulf Coast, even the possibility of severe thunderstorms,” said FOX Weather meteorologist Bob Van Dillen.
Strong to severe storms were expected across parts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama on Sunday, with the threat sliding eastward on Monday.
FLORIDA BECOMES THE ‘UNSHINE’ STATE AFTER ENDURING CLOUDIEST WINTER PERIOD IN 84 YEARS
During the Valentine’s Day week, moisture on the system’s northern side was expected to mix with enough cold air to produce snow again, but this time for communities in the Northeast and New England.
A widespread 1-4 inches of snowfall was expected to coat the ground from the eastern Ohio Valley through Maine next week, with some cities along Interstate 84 seeing substantially more.
Forecast models show that all precipitation will be off the Eastern Seaboard by Wednesday morning.