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Red Mountain Pass reopens

A Colorado Department of Transportation snowblower worked Monday along U.S. Highway 550 Monday near Silverton in near whiteout conditions.

U.S. Highway 550 has reopened on Red Mountain Pass as of 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The highway was closed for nearly five hours for avalanche-mitigation work. Crews intentionally triggered avalanches and then cleared snow from the highway.

U.S. Highway 285 at Kenosha Pass, south of Bailey, has also reopened after several hours because of whiteout conditions and multiple accidents.

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center rated avalanche danger in the southern San Juans as “considerable,” or 3 on a 5-point scale. The northern San Juans were “high,” or 4 on the 5-point scale. An avalanche warning was issued for the northern San Juans through 8 a.m. Wednesday.

“It will be easier to trigger avalanches, and the resulting slides will be larger and more dangerous than they were over the weekend,” the agency said.

For Durango, the National Weather Service forecast sunny and cold weather Wednesday, with a high of 37 degrees. The forecast called for a 50 percent chance of snow on Christmas Day, with a high near 36.



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