Drivers commuting over Wolf Creek Pass Monday morning may want to plan ahead because their trip may be delayed due to avalanche mitigation.
Following heavy snowfall from Sunday’s storm, the Colorado Department of Transportation will temporarily close an 8-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 160 between Wolf Creek Ski Area near the summit at mile marker 165 to Treasure Falls at mile marker 157.
The closure will start at 5:30 a.m. and likely take at least two hours, CDOT spokeswoman Lisa Schwantes said.
“They need to make it to those closure points before 5:30 if they want to get through. If not, they're going to have to wait a couple hours for sure,” she said.
According to a Snopack Telemetry device located at the Wolf Creek Summit, the area had received roughly 9.2 inches of snow during Sunday’s storm as of 1 p.m. Wolf Creek Ski Area is reporting 24 inches in the last 24 hours as of 3:15 p.m. Sunday.
Schwantes said the time frame for the mitigation process depends on how much snow the mountain pass receives and the quality of the snow.
“If it's clean snow, they can get it cleared off quickly if it's dirty with rocks and trees and limbs, and it takes a little while longer,” Schwantes said.
The Colorado Avalanche Information Center considered Wolf Creek Pass to be in considerable avalanche danger as of Sunday.
CAIC’s website says heavy snowfall and strong winds will form dangerous slabs of snow 1 to 2 feet thick above various weak snow layers.
“Whenever we do get large amounts of snow in a short amount of time, that's when we need to conduct these avalanche safety operations,” Schwantes said.
The National Weather Service forecast estimates that Durango received 5 to 9 inches from Sunday’s storm. A SNOTEL located at Molas Lake reported it had receive 6.2 inches as of 2 p.m. Sunday.
tbrown@durangoherald.com
