File:Colorado (MODIS 2018-01-20).jpg

English: While schools and many businesses were closed for a long weekend holiday, Coloradans buttoned up as a significant snow storm struck much of the state. According to the National Weather Service, Greenwood Village and Centennial, Colorado, both located near Denver, received total snowfall of 6 and 5.3 inches, respectively, while Denver saw 4.7 inches of accumulation. Mountainous areas, which typically received higher snowfall than lower areas, reported totals between 1 and 5 inches.

While heavy snow causes travel disruption and inconveniences, some Coloradans are welcoming this particular precipitation in what is, otherwise, a relatively dry and warm winter. According to an article in the Denver Post, this snowfall is considered a “silver lining” in recreation areas such as Crested Butte, where snow totals were at their lowest in four decades prior to the January storm. While last January was the snowiest January on record at the ski town with 179.5 inches falling by January 10, 2017 at the Crested Butte Mountain Resort, this winter was distinctly arid – even worse that the winter of 1976-1977, during which Colorado resorts closed in January due to a lack of snow, according the article. By January 10, 2018, the same resort had recorded only 59 inches of snowfall. The weekend’s snowstorm added about an additional foot, improving ski conditions considerably. Colorado resorts are looking forward to additional snowfall during the typically snowier months of February and March.

On January 16, 2018, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of freshly fallen snow across the state of Colorado. Denver sits just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The town of Crested Butte lies to the west and south of Denver and just across the highest ridges of the Rocky Mountains.