3/21/23 Tuesday 1 pm
Heavy snow is moving into the forecast area and it is going to get much, much worse. So they are going to close the passes. 550 is scheduled to close from Purgatory to Ouray at 5 pm. No word on Lizard Head yet.
Wolf Creek is scheduled to close at 6 am Wednesday, but I expect it to close earlier. Snowfall rates beginning later this afternoon will ramp up to 2 to 4 inches per hour there and the winds are going to continue to pick up. Thundersnow and lightning are very strong possibilities.
― Southwest Colorado Travel Alert ―
US 550 between Purgatory and Ouray is set to close this evening due to adverse weather conditions.
Travelers should expect closures on multiple mountain passes across the region for the remainder of the week.
US 550 between Purgatory and Ouray will close at 5:00 p.m. tonight (03/21/23) due to dangerous driving conditions.
Southwest & South-Central Colorado— With heavy snow accumulation and high-wind gusts forecasted throughout the San Juan Mountain Range, the Colorado Department of Transportation warns travelers of closures set to occur on multiple mountain passes for the remainder of the week. Motorists are encouraged to frequently visit COtrip.org for the latest information on road closures and conditions prior to traveling.
Additional maintenance work and safety closures may be implemented this week on many southwest & south-central Colorado highways as crews perform winter maintenance operations and avalanche mitigation.
US 550 Mountain Corridor north of Durango
CDOT will implement a safety closure this evening for US Highway 550 north of Purgatory ski area to Ouray, due to adverse weather conditions and high avalanche danger forecasted through Thursday. The highway is set to close at 5:00 p.m. on Tues., March 21 with no estimated time or day of reopening. The closure includes all three mountain passes – Coal Bank, Molas, and Red Mountain. The corridor will likely remain closed for the duration of the storm system which is necessary to ensure the safety of motorists.
Northbound travelers will encounter a closed gate just north of Purgatory, near Cascade Creek (MP 52). Southbound travelers will encounter a closed gate at Ouray (MP 92). Do not attempt to bypass the closed gates. Crews will work as quickly and safely as possible to perform winter maintenance operations for the remainder of the week.
US 160 Wolf Creek Pass east of Pagosa Springs
US 160 Wolf Creek Pass will close tomorrow morning (Wed., Mar. 22) at 6 a.m. so that crews can perform winter maintenance operations. Maintenance operations will last for much of the morning, but the exact time of reopening the highway is not known.
Westbound traffic will be stopped just west of the ski area at the pass summit (MP 167) and eastbound traffic will be stopped near Treasure Falls (MP 157). Do not attempt to bypass the closed gates. Maintenance operations will last for much of the morning, but the exact time of reopening the highway is not known.
No word on Lizard Head just yet…
Accompanying the announcement was a model run from the high-resolution NDFD model that is going off the rails. According to the release, this is what the NWS is expecting for additional snowfall. While it would not surprise me, I have to say that other models are not showing totals this high, but I figured since this is the official word coming from CDOT and NWS I better include it in my post.
Here is the caption under the graphic from the original press release.
“The National Weather Service predicts 4 feet of new snow accumulation over parts of the US 550 Mountain Corridor and approximately 6 feet near US 160 Wolf Creek Pass by late Thursday.”
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