Wave of snow returning wintry conditions to Rockies

Wintry weather is making a comeback across the Rockies early this week, dishing out both noticeably colder conditions and snow.

"A dip in the jet stream early in the week, will allow cold air to infiltrate the Rockies, including in cities like Cheyenne and Laramie, Wyoming, to Denver and Colorado Springs, Colorado," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Nicole LoBiondo.

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A noticeable drop in temperature occurred on Sunday these locations, going from highs in the 60s and 70s on Saturday, which is about 20-30 degrees above normal for this time of year, dropping into a cooler upper 40s pattern by Sunday afternoon.

Following the wave of cold, a storm brought a few rain and snow showers across portions of Idaho and Montana on Sunday, with the bulk of the storm, and the cold, arriving on Sunday night.

By Monday morning more widespread snow was beginning to break out across southern Wyoming, including Cheyenne, and into the Colorado Rockies. Snow will continue to increase in coverage Monday, and can become heavy at times later Monday into Monday night.

Snow tapered off Tuesday morning for most, but some snow showers lingered at the highest elevations. "Most of the threat for accumulating snow will come to an end with the rising sun Tuesday morning," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Jake Sojda.

The greatest amounts of accumulating snowfall are likely to remain in the highest elevations of Wyoming and Colorado, with snow or mixed rain and snow that won't accumulate much in the lower elevations. Even still, temperatures could drop low enough through Monday night for snowflakes to mix in across a more expansive area and at lower elevations.

Cheyenne is expected to see a few inches of accumulation by Tuesday morning. Denver is expected to miss out on the heaviest snow, but could still see a slushy coating to an inch Monday night.

In the Colorado Rockies, above 10,000 feet, is where as much as 6-12 inches of snow is likely and where an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 24 inches would be possible through early Tuesday.

These elevations include several passes, such as the Trail Ridge Pass, where travel could be difficult for the duration of the storm. Even passes at lower elevations down to 8,000 feet in Colorado may have some accumulating snow, making for slick conditions for a brief period of time. At lower elevations, roads are likely to be mainly wet.

Accumulating snowfall in some of the major cities in the Rockies are not unheard of for this time of year. In fact, on average, Cheyenne picks up about 2 inches of snow during the month of May, while Denver averages just over 1 inch of accumulating snow.

Additional snow, or rain, coming to the area will overall be help to the drought conditions lingering across much of the region. While the eastern two-thirds of Wyoming and Colorado has seen a considerable reduction in the severity of the drought, much of the region is still abnormally dry or in a moderate drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

The late season snow will be short-lived. After seeing high temperatures stuck mainly in the 30s Tuesday, cities like Denver, Cheyenne and Colorado Springs will return to high temperatures around 70 by Thursday, which is near normal for this time of the year.

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