A cold front pushed its way into the region Friday, sending temperatures plunging and leading to icy conditions on mountain passes between Durango and Ouray.
The snow started flying about 11:30 a.m. in Silverton, 9,308 feet in elevation.
Dan Bender, spokesman with the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office, said a motorcycle, pickup and tour bus all reported problems on Molas and Coal Bank passes, between Silverton and Durango.
A chain law for commercial vehicles put into effect about 11:55 a.m. for Coal Bank, Molas and Red Mountain passes was lifted by the Colorado Department of Transportation for Coal Bank and Molas about 1:50 p.m.
“Right now, there is wet snow falling in downtown Silverton, probably 15 to 20 mph breeze and solid overcast,” Bender said at 11:50 a.m. “There’s accumulation on the vehicles. It’s a real wet snow, but it’s wind-driven.”
The storm responsible for Friday’s cold front was expected to move from Utah into north-central Colorado on Friday night, bringing 2-4 inches of snow to those mountains.
“The northern mountains, north of I-70, look to be favored for any decent accumulation of snow,” Alexsa said. “But for the San Juans, it doesn’t look like we’ll see too much accumulation tonight (Friday).”
Forecasters are calling for lingering rain showers through Saturday followed by a dry period Sunday and into early next week.
“The next chance for any precipitation looks to be on Wednesday,” Alexsa said. “That one actually looks to be not too strong or significant.”
shane@durangoherald.com
