Snow continued to fall Tuesday morning and picked up again in the evening, making travel difficult for those returning to Southwest Colorado from the Christmas holiday.
About 3 inches of snow fell in Durango as of Tuesday morning with 0.2 inches in Cortez, 5 inches in Silverton and almost 4 inches in Pagosa Springs, according to the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network, which takes daily measurements of precipitation.
“Overnight, we were only expecting some of the lighter snowfall to occur,” said Kris Sanders, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction. “The main story going into this evening is we’ll see another round push through again.”
“Tonight (Tuesday night) will be the higher snowfall rates,” Sanders said.
The National Weather Service forecasts an additional 3 to 5 inches of snow across the Four Corners through Wednesday, extending its winter weather advisory to 8 a.m. Wednesday morning.
“A seemingly endless series of disturbances will move across the region throughout the week ahead bringing continued snow changes for much of the forecast area,” the weather advisory read.
“It’s been kind of a mess, just system after system moving through,” Sanders said.
Snow totals overnight on Red Mountain, Molas and Coal Bank passes were nowhere near those from Christmas Eve, but roads at higher elevations remained dangerous.
Red Mountain Pass received 4 inches, Molas 6 inches and Coal Bank 8 inches, said Lisa Schwantes, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Transportation.
CDOT announced on Tuesday afternoon that crews would perform avalanche mitigation on all three passes along U.S. Highway 550 on Wednesday starting at 7 a.m.
Crews will begin triggering and clearing slides on Coal Bank and Molas passes before moving to Red Mountain Pass in the late morning or afternoon, a news release said.
CDOT will stop U.S. Highway 550 traffic northbound near Cascade and southbound near Silverton in the morning and at Silverton and Ouray in the afternoon. Operations will lead to lengthy travel delays.
Wolf Creek Pass closed overnight before opening at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, as CDOT crews worked to clear and widen the highway in preparation for more snow. CDOT also performed avalanche mitigation while U.S. Highway 160 was closed.
Visibility remained an issue on the pass and roads were snowpacked and icy Tuesday morning, Schwantes said.
Late Tuesday afternoon, CDOT reported crews would have to conduct more avalanche mitigation at 6 a.m. Wednesday on Wolf Creek Pass. Eastbound traffic will stop near Treasure Falls and westbound traffic will stop near Wolf Creek Ski Area, with significant delays expected, the news release said.
Holiday travelers searching for an alternative route to Durango have been left without one.
Snowpack and ice covered Highway 550 from Ouray to Purgatory Resort.
An avalanche along Colorado Highway 145 shut down Lizard Head Pass on Tuesday morning, according to CDOT’s website.
Colorado Highway 17 and La Manga and Cumbres passes between Antonito and Chama, New Mexico, also closed because of safety concerns.
“Unfortunately, these mountains don’t give us many options for detour routes,” Schwantes said.
Those traveling from Denver could take Interstate 25 to New Mexico before turning north to Durango, but Schwantes said that would add significant time and snow was likely affecting New Mexico roads, too.
“When we’re dealing with a huge storm over the San Juan Mountains and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, folks just need to be very, very cautious,” she said.
Durango-La Plata County Airport reported two canceled American Airlines arrivals and departures to Dallas-Fort Worth and Phoenix on Tuesday morning, but neither flight was suspended because of weather, said Tony Vicari, director of aviation for DRO.
The Denver Post reported on Monday that the omicron variant and weather across the country continued to disrupt travel out of Denver International Airport.
Flights between Denver and Durango were on time on Tuesday, according to flyDurango.com.
“We’ve had arrivals and departures occurring throughout the morning with modest delays,” Vicari said. “Our airport team has been actively engaging in snow removal operations throughout the morning and those operations are ongoing and will continue as long as the precipitation continues to fall.”
NWS forecasts snow showers again on Wednesday night.
A break from the snow early Thursday will fade into the evening as another storm barrels down on Southwest Colorado.
“We’re looking at another system moving through and that one is going to be a little bit more significant,” Sanders said.
The models vary half a week out, but 4 to 8 inches of snow could again fall on Cortez and Durango, said Erin Walter, a NWS meteorologist.
Flurries will start late Thursday, but the bulk of the snow will fall Friday before winding down on Saturday, Sanders said.
The storm will be colder, sending temperatures plummeting around New Year’s Day with possible below-zero temperatures on Sunday morning.
Additional winter warnings and advisories could be forthcoming from NWS later in the week as the storm nears and meteorologists gain more confidence in the models, Sanders said.
ahannon@durangoherald.com
