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  Home Page » News » Storm Ties Up Passes Police Officers

Storm ties up passes, police officers

Mountains 'clobbered' with as much as 6 feet of snow in last week

by Katie Burford
Herald Staff Writer The second major snowstorm to hit the area in a week closed all major mountain passes and flooded the Durango Police Department with minor accident reports Sunday.

Colorado Department of Transportation spokeswoman Nancy Shanks said Wolf Creek, Coal Bank, Molas and Red Mountain passes were closed Sunday because of adverse conditions and the avalanche danger posed by the 6 feet of snow that has fallen in the last week.

She said crews would be out bringing down slides and clearing roads as early as it was safe to do so.

“Hopefully, we'll have a good picture of what things look like in the morning," she said.

She urged people to check CDOT's Web site for the status of mountain highways before traveling.

Meanwhile, Durango Police Department put in effect an accident alert, during which drivers are asked to exchange information and file a report at the police station during normal work hours.

Sgt. Rita Warfield said the alert was a result of the volume of minor accidents produced by the heavy snowfall.

The Police Department lifted the alert at 9 p.m. Sunday.

Tom Renwick, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction, said the mountains were feeling the brunt of the storm.

“They've been getting clobbered," he said.

At lower elevations, the temperature hovered just above freezing, so conditions were variable, with some streets wet and slushy and others snowpacked and icy.

Warfield said increased traffic from holiday shoppers combined with the snow bumped up the number of fender benders.

The alert was put in place to ensure a reserve of officers remained available in case of an emergency.

“We were getting a lot of minor accident calls, and it was tying up the officers," she said.

Air travelers were faring a little better. Ron Dent, director of aviation for the Durango-La Plata County Airport, said the temperature at the airport got up to 36, allowing much of the snow falling on the runways to melt.

He said that, to his knowledge, no flights had been delayed.

Renwick said a winter storm warning for the area was expected to remain in place until early this morning.

Partly cloudy skies and a high of 35 degrees were forecast for later in the day. Temperatures tonight are expected to dip into single digits.

Tuesday should be mostly sunny with a high in the upper 30s.

Renwick said the long-range forecast was for clear skies.

Wolf Creek Ski Area, which will remain inaccessible from the west until the pass opens, was reporting 22 inches from the storm and a midway base of 83 inches at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort was reporting 13 inches in the previous 24 hours and a base of 46 inches Sunday, when it had two lifts and 30 trails on the front side open.

The ski area reported crews were working on the backside to allow it to open as soon as conditions permit.

Telluride Ski Resort had 4 new inches as of 6 a.m. Sunday and a base of 33 inches.

Lower elevations have received between a foot and 2 feet of snow from the week's two storms.

kburford@durangoherald.com

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