Coal Bank, Molas and Red Mountain passes reopened around 2 p.m. Sunday after crews were able to complete avalanche mitigation work on U.S. Highway 550 north of Durango.

The three mountain passes were closed at 7 a.m. Saturday due to snow slides and high avalanche danger. Lisa Schwantes, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Transportation, said it was too dangerous for crews to work on the mountain passes Saturday, which required closure of the route overnight.

Crews began mitigation work first thing Sunday, Schwantes said, and that work was completed around 1:30 p.m.

Jeff Colton, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction, said the San Juan Mountains received anywhere from 7 to 20 inches since Friday, with south-facing slopes above 10,000 feet receiving the most amount of snow.

Colton said Lizard Head Pass received 12 inches of new snow, Red Mountain received 13 inches, and Coal Bank and Molas passes receiving about 12 inches.

As of Sunday afternoon, weather stations at Cascade and Molas Lake recorded approximately 180 percent above the normal snowpack of the year-to-date, Spud Mountain recorded 169 percent, and the gauge at Red Mountain Pass recorded 143 percent.

“And there’s still more coming,” Colton said.

He said the current weather pattern is likely to keep dropping precipitation in the high elevations of the San Juan Mountains Sunday night until about mid-day Monday, when it will move out to the Eastern Plains.

Southwest Colorado will then have a break from winter weather, experiencing dry, sunny days until Thursday.

Then, another storm moves into the area Friday until Sunday, Colton said.

“Right now, it looks very similar to the ones we’ve been having,” he said. “So we’ll be dealing with that rain-snow line, but the storm that’s supposed to reach us by Saturday night looks stronger and wetter.”