Winter Storm Warnings Issued for Four States as 'Heavy Snow' Hits

Winter storm warnings are in place for parts of four states as unsettled weather across the Pacific Northwest brings several feet of heavy snow to mountain ranges in the region, before pushing into the Rockies on Wednesday.

The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued alerts for Colorado, Montana, Oregon and Washington, warning of treacherous travel conditions and reduced visibility.

A northeasterly storm brought heavy snow to the northeast over the weekend and into Monday.

In its latest forecast, the NWS said the latest in a series of weather fronts from the Pacific would push onshore on Tuesday, bringing rain to lower elevations. As the West Coast dries out on Wednesday, the storm will move inland, developing a low-pressure system over the central High Plains.

The storm will then intensify, and "will begin to organize and focus an area of moderate to heavy snow over central Colorado by early on Thursday," the weather agency added. "By Thursday morning, snow could be falling in earnest over the mountainous terrain into the Front Range and nearby High Plains of central Colorado."

In the Cascades of Washington, additional snow accumulations of up to 25 inches will form, with winds gusting as high as 40 miles an hour. Up to 2 feet of snow could fall on the mountain range in Oregon, along with 45-mile-an-hour winds, making travel very difficult to impossible.

In southwest Montana, up to 7 inches of snow is expected across the Gallatin and Madison County mountains, as well as the Centennial range into Wednesday evening. Brief periods of heavy snow may cause localized whiteout conditions on Tuesday afternoon, while roads are anticipated to become slick and hazardous.

From Tuesday evening through Thursday morning, snowfall of up to 14 inches and winds of 40 miles an hour are forecast for the Sawatch and Mosquito ranges of central Colorado. Patches of blowing snow may significantly reduce visibility.

Earlier in the month, a powerful winter storm from the Pacific brought in excess of 12 feet of snow to the Sierra Nevada range, as well as several feet of snow and blizzard conditions to higher-elevation regions of neighboring states.

Another winter storm made landfall earlier the same week before moving into the Intermountain West, bringing intense snowfall from Utah to Wyoming and Colorado.

Western states have already faced several bouts of heavy snowfall so far this winter, having been subjected to a prolific series of atmospheric rivers that brought a rare blizzard warning for Seattle in early January.