AccuWeather.com

By Heather Buchman, Meteorologist

Mar 16, 2010; 9:00 AM ET

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Following several stretches of nice, spring-like weather this month, a storm will bring a return of wintry weather to the middle of the country Thursday into the weekend. People from Colorado and Wyoming to the Upper Great Lakes could be dealing with several inches of snow and travel delays as a result.

In addition to the snow, a sharp drop in temperatures, in some cases by as much as 40 degrees, will force people to get their winter coats and gear back out. High temperatures in places like Denver will plummet from the upper 60s Thursday to the upper 20s or lower 30s Friday and Saturday.

The storm will first start bringing a mix of rain and snow to parts of Montana and Wyoming by Thursday. As colder air spreads in, any of the rain will changeover to all snow and become quite heavy Thursday night.

Throughout the day Friday, the snow will spread farther south and east into Colorado, Nebraska and South Dakota. Cold, gusty winds out of the north will pick up across these areas as well, blowing the snow around and creating reduced visibility.

People traveling into and out of Denver International Airport Friday should be prepared for delays. Travel along Interstates 25, 70, 76, 80 and 90 could also be affected.

While there is still some uncertainty in the exact track of the storm, which will determine where the snow spreads beyond Friday, areas from Kansas into Iowa, southern Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan all have a chance of receiving snow from the storm Friday and/or over the weekend.

Based on the current expected track of the storm, the heaviest snow will be most likely in parts of Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, southern South Dakota, Iowa and southern Minnesota. Snow totals could reach up to 3 to 6 inches in some of these areas. Locally higher amounts are expected in some of the higher elevations of the Rockies.