Heavy, wet snow caused numerous power outages and led to school being canceled Tuesday in Durango and Bayfield.
La Plata Electric Association was aware of about 45 small outages affecting about 435 customers across the region. The largest power outage affected about 2,000 customers served by the Falfa Substation in the vicinity of U.S. Highway 160 at Elmore’s Corner, where County Roads 234 and Colorado Highway 172 intersect.
Power there was restored just before 1 p.m., with the cause of outage presumed to be heavy snow load. And LPEA reported that power was back on at all but a handful of residences by 3 p.m.
The Durango school closure was a result of “adverse weather conditions” throughout much of the district, Durango School District 9-R announced shortly before 6 a.m. in an emergency message to parents and students.
“While there are areas that have received little snow, throughout the region current road conditions are challenging, and the heaviest snow predictions are still to come,” the early morning announcement said
Mountain Middle School and Animas High School in Durango also canceled classes.
The snow left area roads and highways snowpacked and icy, and chain law restrictions remained in place on all area mountain passes, including Molas, Coal Bank, Red Mountain and Wolf Creek, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation. A winter storm warning was in effect until 12:01 a.m. Wednesday for higher elevations, including Silverton, Hesperus and Ouray.
The city of Durango received only a few inches, but higher elevations received significantly more, including Florida Mesa with 7 inches and Durango West II subdivision with 9 inches, said Julie Popp, District 9-R spokeswoman.
“Some people will laugh it off, and say, ‘Well, I could have made it,’ but then other people would have been challenged to get in,” Popp said.
The decision to cancel classes was made after consulting with CDOT to see how well snowplows were keeping up with road conditions throughout the district, Popp said. The district stretches south near the New Mexico line and north to Purgatory Resort.
About 1,500 students use bus service in the district, Popp said.
Buses must be able to make it through neighborhoods and turn around, and if there is too much snow in areas, it creates challenges, Popp said.
“With the expectation of additional snow accumulations throughout the day, it was best to make the call and not put our drivers or families at risk,” Popp said.
The school district builds three snow days into the schedule each year. This is the first snow day of the school year, Popp said. Last year, the school district had two snow days.
shane@durangoherald.com
