As of 3:30 this Friday morning it is snowing in the Central and Northern mountains and Wolf Creek pass because, well, it is Wolf Creek Pass.
They cleaned up the advisory a bit, they opted for the 8-16″ as I opined yesterday but they didn’t split out the areas.
UNCOMPAHGRE PLATEAU AND DALLAS DIVIDE-
NORTHWEST SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS-SOUTHWEST SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS-
LA SAL AND ABAJO MOUNTAINS-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF RIDGWAY, GLADE PARK, TELLURIDE, OURAY,
LAKE CITY, SILVERTON, RICO, HESPERUS, AND MONTICELLO
353 AM MST FRI DEC 13 2019
…WINTER STORM WATCH NOW IN EFFECT FROM THIS EVENING THROUGH
SUNDAY EVENING…
* WHAT…MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW POSSIBLE. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS
OF 8 TO 16 INCHES WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE. EXPECT
LOWER AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 4 INCHES ACROSS THE LOWER ELEVATIONS OF
SOUTHEAST UTAH NEAR THE LA SAL AND ABAJO MOUNTAINS. WINDS COULD
GUST AS HIGH AS 50 MPH.
* WHERE…IN UTAH, LA SAL AND ABAJO MOUNTAINS. IN COLORADO,
SOUTHWEST SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS, NORTHWEST SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS AND
UNCOMPAHGRE PLATEAU AND DALLAS DIVIDE.
* WHEN…FROM THIS EVENING THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING. HEAVIEST SNOW
RATES EXPECTED SATURDAY EVENING THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING.
* IMPACTS…TRAVEL COULD BE VERY DIFFICULT. PATCHY BLOWING SNOW
COULD SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE VISIBILITY, ESPECIALLY ON RIDGE TOPS
AND MOUNTAIN PASSES.
The best way to look at this storm if you are rooting for snow in and near Durango and Purgatory is you have to keep in mind that this storm isn’t supposed to deliver very much snow to us. This should be a Telluride/Red Mountain storm and a Northern and Central Mountains. For all practical purposes, it is, however, Saturday night into Sunday morning as the cool air comes in the jet kinks and changes the flow to the southwest bringing in the last of the AR moisture and dumps it across our area. That does not usually happen, and it is really the only way we are benefitted by the storm.
Later today, I will update you on snowfall totals and talk about a couple scenarios that could result in a bust or BOOM for the Durango area and Purgatory. I am confident at this point Telluride-Ouray and Wolf Creek have nothing to worry about.
Have a great day, check back around 1 pm for more info!
Click here to donate
Click here to contact me