The storm that brought Christmas morning snow to Southwest Colorado stuck around Friday but is expected to give way to a cold and mostly sunny weekend.
As usual, the first substantial snowfall brought slippery highways and streets, vehicle accidents and spin outs.
“Highways are snowpacked and icy everywhere,” said Nancy Shanks, communications manager for the Colorado Department of Transportation in Durango. “If you don’t have to travel, don’t.”
Travelers would be wise to check www.cotrip.org for real-time road conditions before traveling Saturday, Shanks said.
No avalanche-control work was done on U.S. Highway 550 mountain passes Friday, but up to 2 inches of snow is expected to accumulate Friday night, which could bring closures of passes for avalanche control, Shanks said.
The icy, snow-packed highways extended into New Mexico, she said.
Chains were required Friday on all commercial vehicles on Wolf Creek, Lizard Head, Molas, Coal Bank and Red Mountain passes, she said.
Wolf Creek Pass got 23 inches of snow from the current storm, said Mike Meyers, science and operations officer at the National Weather Service in Grand Junction. Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort received a total of 17 inches in the last five days, including 7 inches in the 24 hours ending at 4 a.m. Friday. Another inch fell during the day Friday.
“It’s been snowing lightly all day,” Kim Oyler, DMR spokeswoman, said Friday afternoon. “We’ve had a good crowd here (Friday).”
Hesperus Ski Area announced Friday it will open at 9 a.m. Sunday.
Colorado State Patrol troopers in Durango were busy.
“We were on accident alert from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Christmas Day,” Sgt. Ben Steger said Friday. “We stayed busy.”
Six of a dozen accidents were confined to property damage, and four resulted in minor bumps and bruises, he said. One driver was cited for driving under the influence, and one person went to Mercy Regional Medical Center for treatment.
Several arriving or departing flights between Durango and Denver were delayed, one for almost four hours at Durango-La Plata County Airport, according to flight departure schedules online.
The city of Durango had 10 snowplows working from 2 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, city manager of operations Roy Petersen said.
The plows were to start again at 2 a.m. Saturday, he said. They will be cleaning the central business district and whatever overnight accumulation there could be.
“The streets are in good condition,” he said.
The city’s snow information hotline, which provides current information about snow conditions and snow-removal status, is open at 375-4646.
A winter storm warning was in effect until midnight Friday, said Meyers with the National Weather Service.
The next storm, expected Monday, will affect mainly the central and northern San Juan Mountains, he said. The southern San Juans will not catch the brunt of the storm.
Saturday and Sunday will be mostly sunny, the National Weather Service reported. The high temperature Saturday should be around 25 degrees with an overnight low of 4 degrees. The high and low Sunday will be around 30 and 11 degrees.
daler@durangoherald.com
Area snow measurements
Inch totals from Thursday morning to Friday morning.
Durango: 3
Florida Mesa (5 miles south of Farmington Hill): .03
Hesperus: 10
Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort: 7
Rafter J: 7
Wolf Creek Pass: 23
