Historic winter storm buries New Mexico, Colorado in snow. Warmer temps ahead

Heavy snowfall from a historic winter storm across parts of New Mexico and Colorado that has left dozens of motorists stranded will last through at least Friday night, but warmer temperatures are on the way this weekend, forecasters say.

By Friday morning, snowfall totals in some northeastern New Mexico counties including Mora, San Miguel and Santa Fe, reached at least 24 inches, with an additional 4 to 20 inches expected during the day. In Rociada on Friday morning, 36 inches had fallen. Denver's heaviest snowfall is also expected Friday.

More than 4.6 million people in the region were under winter storm warnings and about 42,000 had blizzard warnings on Friday. Tens of thousands of people were impacted by power outages in New Mexico on Thursday as the storm dumped heavy snow, and the National Weather Service in Albuquerque said that more power outages were possible on Friday.

In Colorado, Gov. Jared Polis declared a disaster emergency on Thursday and authorized the Colorado National Guard to respond to the storm. Many state government employees were also moved to remote work.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham also issued two statewide emergency declarations to open up $1.5 million in state funding for storm response.

"This is a very potent storm system in the Rockies for this time," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Scott Homan told USA TODAY.

Here's what the weekend will look like:

Heavy snow to last into late Friday, early Saturday

Heavy snowfall at a rate of up to 1 to 2 inches per hour will continue in northeast New Mexico and eastern Colorado through the rest of Friday, the National Weather Prediction Center said. The snowfall will slowly taper off beginning Saturday morning.

Temperatures at higher elevations in northern New Mexico could be as low as single digits.

Snowfall totals in the Sangre de Cristo mountains, the Raton Mesa and nearby foothills are expected to be historic for this time of year at 3 to 4 feet by the end of Friday, after an additional 1 to 2 feet falls during the day.

In the Denver metro area and southern foothills of Colorado, 7 to 14 inches of snow are expected through Saturday morning, the weather service in Denver and Boulder said.

"It's not out of the question that some of the highest elevations off across southern Colorado see maybe upwards to 50 to 60, inches. So the mountains and ski resorts are loving this weather," Homan said.

Hazardous travel conditions and road closures continue

Friday and Saturday commutes will be hazardous as a combination of heavy snow, high winds and fog cover some areas. In the Eastern Plains of Colorado across Akron, Kiowa, Limon and Hugo, the weather service said travel will be impossible for the rest of the day.

"The combination of heavy snow rates and gusty winds will lead to blizzard conditions for some locations and create difficult to impossible travel conditions for the I-25 corridor and eastern Plains, where numerous area roads are already closed," the National Weather Service said.

"Areas of freezing fog is expected within the northwest and central valleys, including the Albuquerque and Santa Fe Metro areas," the weather service in Albuquerque said. "Visibility may drop as low as one-quarter mile at times through mid-morning."

Drivers should use low-beam headlights and be on the lookout for slick black ice on the roads.

On Thursday, officials said that about 100 motorists were stranded on Highways 56, 412 and 87 in blizzard conditions.

Warmer temps this weekend will begin melting snow

As heavy snow winds down Saturday, the storm will let off into the north and northeast and into the upper Plains, Homan said.

Warmer temperatures in the upper 30s will return Saturday in Denver and surrounding areas, he said. On Sunday, sunshine and temperatures that reach into the mid-40s will begin to melt the impressive amounts of snow that fell during this storm.

"It won't be a dramatic melting effect, but the snow will begin to melt a bit as the sunshine helps along with the warmer temperatures," Homan said.