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The snow is gone from the city — perhaps for the last time until autumn — and warm spring sunshine will return by the end of the week, according to the National Weather Service.

Temperatures in the Denver metro area are expected to climb back into the 50s Tuesday, the 60s on Wednesday and Thursday, and be in the 70s on Friday and Saturday.

It may be as high as 80 degrees Sunday.

The snowstorm that raked across Colorado on Sunday and Monday left 4 to 7 inches of accumulation in the metro region Monday and more than a foot across most of the high country, including 31.6 inches in Kremmling.

Though late in the season, the date of the snowstorm was not that unusual, but the amounts were. Denver normally gets 1.7 inches of snow for all of May.

Sunday saw mostly light snow, sleet and rain across the city.

On Monday, snow piled up on grass and on trees and shrubs, but it melted away quickly, causing minimal tree damage.

By early afternoon, temperatures climbed into the 40s and melted off nearly all the snow in the city.

Denver International Airport saw about 25 flights canceled during the heavy snowfall Monday morning, but by early evening operations had returned to normal.

No flights were canceled Sunday, but on Saturday night United Airlines pre-emptively canceled 59 flights for Sunday.

All of north-central and northeast Colorado will see a gradual warming trend this week. Steamboat Springs and Aspen are expected to be in the 50s and 60s by the end of the week, and Durango could reach 80 by the weekend, forecasters said.

Afternoon and evening showers are expected in the mountains Tuesday and Wednesday, with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms on the plains Thursday and Friday.