Drivers traveling in the high country this weekend should exercise caution as a winter storm moves into the region Saturday.
The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory for the San Juan Mountains starting 7 a.m. Saturday, which includes the towns of Silverton, Telluride, Ouray and Hesperus, with up to 10 inches of snow expected at elevations above 10,000 feet.
The U.S. Highway 550 corridor north of Durango, including Coal Bank, Molas and Red Mountain passes, is likely to bear the brunt of the storm.
Montezuma County won’t be so lucky, as the cold front moving in from the north is expected to drop temperatures into the mid-40s, not quite conducive to snow. Temperatures are expected to be in the lower 20s overnight.
Climate troublemaker La Niña is partially responsible for the unusually warm and dry winter plaguing Southwest Colorado. La Niña is characterized by cooler-than-average water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean and is associated with changes in weather patterns.
Although it’s too early to be sure, meteorologists predict La Niña will transition into more neutral weather patterns by spring – much to Colorado’s delight.
“We are looking to see a little more precipitation getting in here for the spring,” said Michael Charnick, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction. “There is some hope in the long range.”
For now, Southwest Colorado will get a taste of the cold weather before conditions start to heat up again, Charnick said.
“We will see things warming up and drying out at the beginning portion of next week,” he said.
Temperatures are expected to hover in the mid-50s by the middle of next week.
