After a series of small storms in Durango, the town may see its biggest so far this winter from a storm that moved into the area Monday afternoon.
By 7 p.m. Monday, the Colorado Department of Transportation was already reporting that Coal Bank, Molas and Red Mountain passes were icy and snowpacked.
Just before 8 p.m. Monday, Fort Lewis College closed the front hill access on East Eighth Avenue to the school. The Emergency Services Dispatch Center said it anticipated the access will be closed at least through the night.
Area law-enforcement agencies were responding to several reports of cars sliding off roads as of 8:30 p.m. Monday.
Forecasters at the Grand Junction office of the National Weather Service are predicting a 90 percent chance of snowfall, with 5 to 9 inches overnight Monday and another 3 to 5 inches possible Tuesday. That means more than a foot of snow is possible in town by Tuesday afternoon.
All of Southwest Colorado is under a winter storm warning until 6 p.m. Tuesday.
“How much snow falls in different areas will largely be influenced by topography,” said John Kyle, data acquisitions program manager for the weather service. “The higher up you go, the better chance there will be for a bigger snow.”
Altitudes above 7,000 feet may see as much as 18 inches from the storm, the weather service said.
The Colorado Avalanche Information Center said avalanche conditions were moderate in the southern San Juan Mountains Monday, but it expected the danger to rise with the storm.
We’re still not technically in the El Niño weather pattern that was predicted for this winter, Kyle said.
“You’re having El Niño-like symptoms,” he said, “unlike the last two winters, with northern latitude signatures. This one’s coming off the Pacific Northwest.”
The storm may linger into early Wednesday, Kyle said, but then it appears the area will return to drier weather until Sunday evening.
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