Southwest Colorado has only a slim chance of escaping the recent patch of dry weather, with the National Weather Service forecasting only a 10 percent chance of snow in Durango on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, all Durango could muster was a lot wind. A dust storm clouded otherwise clear skies Tuesday afternoon across Southwest Colorado. High wind with gusts up to 50 mph led weather officials to issue a red flag warning for Southwest Colorado. The warning means sustained winds, low humidity and dry vegetation would heighten the risk of wildfire.
But in northern and central Colorado the snow began Tuesday.
“Looks like you’re just a little bit south of it all,” said Joe Ramey, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction. “It’s impacting northwest Colorado more than you all. It’s that kind of storm. No snow for you.”
Ramey said the system would linger north of Red Mountain Pass – dropping 3 to 5 inches in Telluride, and even more accumulation is forecast in more northern locations such as Winter Park and Vail.
Silverton could receive an inch or two, as well. But as for Purgatory Resort: “Let’s just hope for an inch or two,” Ramey said. “It does not look impressive.”
But northeastern Colorado could get clobbered, and the weather service issued a blizzard warning from 4 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday. Included in the warning area are Denver, Castle Rock, Akron, Limon and Sterling. Up to 12 inches of snow is possible on the eastern plains with winds of 25 mph to 35 mph and gusts up to 55 mph.
The weather service expects another storm system will arrive in the state Friday night into Saturday, but the latest models show that system too will snub Southwest Colorado.
