More than a foot of snow socked the foothills just southwest of Evergreen, and parts of Boulder got 6 inches as a Pacific storm turned streets slippery and lawns green - and in some cases, white.

Freezing temps were expected overnight tonight, but back-yard gardeners who placed buckets or blankets over their plants Monday need to uncover them early Wednesday to give them the light they need, said Mary Small, horticulturist with the Colorado State University extension office in Jefferson County.

When the weather turns cold again Wednesday night — the low is expected to be in the upper 30s — the blankets and buckets need to go back on the plants, she said.

“In our climate, there’s a lot of covering and uncovering this time of year,” Small said.

The storm that descends Wednesday night is expected to bring another day of heavy rains on the plains and snow in the high country. Wednesday's high is expected to be about 60, but Thursday's high drops to 55.

The warm up in the aftermath of these two storms should be even more dramatic than earlier forecast, with highs increasing from 65 on Friday to 76 on Saturday and 82 both Sunday and Monday.

Rain and snow caused problems for commuters this morning, triggered auto accidents around the metro area.

Most of the neighborhoods of metro Denver got more rain than snow, if they got snow at all. But in the foothills, it looked like mid-winter.

Among the snow totals through afternoon today, as reported to the NWS by trained spotters:

Genesee: 8 inches

Bailey: 7 1/2 inches

Bergen Park: 6 inches

Breckenridge: 8 inches

St. Mary's Glacier, Clear Creek County:7 inches

West of Golden: 4 1/2 inches