The San Juan County Office of Emergency Management announced that Red Mountain Pass reopened on Thursday afternoon.

The mountain pass closed Tuesday night as a result of heavy snow and avalanche danger from recent storms. The National Weather Service is predicting snow on Red Mountain Pass through the weekend, with some predictions calling for over 2 feet of snow at higher elevations.

Additional winter maintenance work was completed Thursday on Colorado Highway 145 Lizard Head Pass between Rico and Telluride, which caused the closure. U.S. 550 Coal Bank, Molas and Red Mountain Passes are expected to receive between 8 to 9 inches of snow through Saturday, according tot he news release.

As of 3 p.m. Thursday, Red Mountain, Coal Bank and Molas passes were considered high avalanche danger by the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.

“Heavy snow and strong winds are creating very dangerous avalanche conditions. Natural and human-triggered avalanches are very likely. Avalanches can break wide across terrain features and run long distances to valley floors. Travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended Wednesday evening through Friday morning,” the CAIC report says.

tbrown@durangoherald.com