By Renee Duff, AccuWeather.com Meteorologist
February 1,2016; 9:35PM,EST
A storm that brought heavy rain and gusty thunderstorms to Southern California will push heavy snow across the Colorado Rockies and bring potentially damaging winds across New Mexico and western Texas.
This system was responsible for numerous downed trees and power lines in many counties across Southern California as heavy thunderstorms rolled ashore on Sunday afternoon.
According to Southern California Edison, over 70,000 customers experienced power outages as a result of the severe weather. Heavy surf accompanied the rain and thunderstorms due to gusty winds.
Colder air behind this system allowed for heavy snow to be dumped across the Sierra and Southern California mountains.
This system is set to strengthen on Monday as it exits the Four Corners, spreading impacts farther east in the process.
Locations from Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Denver and Colorado Springs, Colorado, are in store for heavy snow into Monday night.
Many areas, especially across the Colorado Rockies, could have over a foot of snow by the time the storm winds down on Monday night.
Travel along portions of interstates 25 and 70 will be dangerous as visibilities and road conditions will quickly become poor.
Another angle of this storm will be high winds that develop across New Mexico and West Texas.
"Winds could occasionally gust over 50 mph over the ridges, through the passes and in the open desert areas," AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Rathbun stated.
Winds could cause localized damage to trees and power lines.
Rathbun added that drivers will want to have a firm grip on the steering wheel when traveling along interstates 10, 25 and 40.
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Winds will gradually subside on Monday night into Tuesday morning as the system moves into the central United States, where severe weather and a blizzard will unfold on Tuesday.
A much quieter weather pattern will settle into the Southwestern states following the departure of this system.
"In the wake of this storm, the storm track will pull northward again and may stay there through at least mid-February," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.
Accompanying the dry and mainly sunny weather will be the return of warm temperatures by the end of the week.
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