Snowplows cleared the way for the Monday morning rush hour after the storm, which is expected to taper off by midday, blanketed Denver with more than 4 inches (10 cm) and the mountains northeast of Steamboat Springs with 36 inches (91 cm) of snow, said Jim Kalina, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder, Colorado.

No significant delays or cancellations were reported at Denver International Airport, and no records were broken in a state used to late spring snowstorms like the one that dumped 10.7 inches of snow on May 26, 1950.

"That's Colorado for you," said Kalina.