A blast of winter brought several inches to a foot of snow to the Denver area and across Colorado's Front Range Sunday.

Bands of heavy snow that fell late Saturday blanketed parts of the Front Range and eastern plains in a very short span. Up to a foot of snow fell in the foothills and suburbs west of Denver with amounts ranging from 4 to 8 inches across the rest of the metro area and onto the eastern plains.

Forecasters said the storm would produce up to a foot of snow for Denver and most neighborhoods along the Interstate 25 corridor before tapering off Sunday afternoon. Foothills and mountains east of Vail Pass should see up to 16 inches.

"Our storm is slowly winding down," said Robert Koopmeiners, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder.

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The storm that originated in the Pacific Northwest didn't have much energy, Koopmeiners said. "But it was enough to make us some snow," he said.

The National Weather Service issued several watches, warnings, and advisories for Colorado.

As highway accidents mounted as a result of the weather, the Colorado State Patrol closed I-70 in both directions between Floyd Hill and Morrison for a few hours but reopened it early Sunday.

The Colorado Department of Transportation said all of its snowplows are out but were having difficulties keeping up with the storm.

Denver International Airport reported 4.5 inches of snow by Sunday morning. Airport officials said four of the six runways were open and about 200 pieces of snow-removal equipment were working to keep the snow cleared.

Airport officials said some flights had been canceled.

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Information from KUSA-TV