UPDATE 3:55

After closing for avalanche control work Red Mountain Pass on U.S. Highway 550 reopened, the Colorado Department of Transportation announced on social media.

Since the series of storms started Dec. 19 the pass has received 45 to 50 inches of snow. Coal Bank and Molas passes have received 78 inches, said Colorado Department of Transportation spokeswoman Nancy Shanks.

“They have been working around the clock,” she said of the snowplow crews.

UPDATE 11 a.m.

Red Mountain Pass on U.S. Highway 550 remained closed this morning for avalanche control work, said Colorado Department of Transportation spokeswoman Nancy Shanks.

Crews finished avalanche control work on Molas Pass along U.S. Highway 550 around 8:30 a.m., and it has reopened, she said.

Original Story

Southwest Colorado began to dig out from four days of snow on Saturday.

After opening U.S. Highway 550 to Silverton overnight, the Colorado Department of Transportation closed it again Saturday to retrieve a vehicle on Molas Pass. The pass opened again just before 4 p.m., with chain and traction laws lifted, and will be open overnight.

“(Sunday), at 7:30 a.m., Molas will be closed from the summit to Silverton as we conduct avalanche control work via helicopter,” said CDOT spokeswoman Nancy Shanks. “It generally goes pretty quickly, so it may be an hour or two, or it could take the better part of the morning depending on how much snow they bring down and have to get off the road.”

Red Mountain Pass will remain closed until at least Sunday, she said.

“After they finish Molas, they’ll move up to shoot Red,” she said. “Hopefully, it will open in the afternoon after they finish.”

Crews will then go over to Lizard Head Pass to conduct avalanche mitigation there, she said. Lizard Head Pass was the only mountain pass in Southwest Colorado that remained open during the storm’s one-two punch that began Tuesday.

Wolf Creek Pass on U.S. Highway 160 was closed from Friday morning until 5:30 p.m. Saturday while the Colorado Department of Transportation conducted avalanche mitigation.

“They had to back out of there Friday because the avalanche danger was so high,” Shanks said. “Then, when they got up there (Saturday), they said, ‘Oh boy, we have a lot to do.’”

The chain law is in effect on Wolf Creek.

Skiers from the San Luis Valley-side enjoyed some powder skiing at Wolf Creek Ski Area on Saturday, as the east side of the pass was open.

Area highways were reported as being wet and slushy or snowpacked and icy in spots. Drivers are being cautioned to drive at speeds safe for the conditions. Temperatures are forecasted to be in the low to mid-20s for the highs, and lows are predicted to drop to low single digits through at least Saturday. Roads freezing overnight may be icy in the morning.

The National Weather Service is predicting a slight chance of snow Monday night and Tuesday.

Flights were delayed but mostly returned to normal at Durango-La Plata County Airport on Saturday after the earliest flights in the morning were canceled. The final flight Saturday, which was scheduled to arrive at 11:30 p.m., was going to be delayed until 12:43 a.m. Sunday.

Amid all the canceled flights, the Road Runner Stage line from Durango to Grand Junction has operated every day of the storm, said Peter Tregillus, programs developer for Southern Ute Community Action Programs, which runs the service.

“We go over Lizard Head (Pass, on Colorado Highway 145), which has remained open,” he said. “Our passenger counts have been near their maximum since we started in 2014. And yes, we have run 45 to 90 minutes late on the hardest days, but we coordinate with Greyhound. We, and they, hold bus departures in Grand Junction so riders don’t miss their connections.”

abutler@durangoherald.com

Watch the storm pass

Visit http://bit.ly/1R2y9dp to see a time-lapse video of the storm on Camino Del Rio.