{"id":15376,"date":"2025-12-04T15:59:45","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T22:59:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/snowstorm-blankets-southwest-colorado-more-on-the-way\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:46:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:46:42","slug":"snowstorm-blankets-southwest-colorado-more-on-the-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/snowstorm-blankets-southwest-colorado-more-on-the-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Snowstorm blankets Southwest Colorado; more on the way"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Brittney
Brittney Cunningham snowshoes toward Chris Park on Thursday. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The first significant low-elevation storm of the 2025-26 season blanketed Durango and other low-lying areas of Southwest Colorado on Wednesday with several inches of snow and ushered in chilly temperatures, making for challenging driving conditions.<\/p>\n

According to National Weather Service meteorologist Kate Abbott, many parts of the San Juan Mountains saw between 5 and 12 inches of snow, particularly around Ridgway and Ouray. Snow totals down in Durango, though, averaged between 2 and 4 inches. She said this round of snow was the last Durango will see in the near future.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe event kind of shaped up pretty well to what we were expecting,\u201d she said. \u201c(In Southwest Colorado), you should have a couple quieter days ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Colorado
Colorado Department of Transportation snowplows work side by side as they clear snow off U.S. Highway 550 near Needles south of Purgatory Resort. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Flights to and from Durango-La Plata Airport were not significantly impacted<\/a>, according to Aviation Director Tony Vicari. Apart from one flight coming into the airport from Denver that had to turn around before landing in Durango because of poor visibility, the airport noted no delays in takeoffs because of the weather as of Wednesday afternoon. Vicari said the only delays were from Denver, which was also dealing with adverse weather.<\/p>\n

The storm, which blew in on Tuesday evening, made for treacherous driving conditions. The Durango Police Department issued an accident alert for U.S. Highway 550 after multiple crashes Tuesday night, though it was lifted by 5:20 a.m. Wednesday, according to the department\u2019s Facebook page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"A
A recent snowstorm that moved through the Durango area left much of La Plata County covered in snow. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Another storm is expected to clip the San Juan Mountains this weekend, though it likely will not impact low-elevation areas, including Durango, Abbott said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the northern edge of the San Juans, we\u2019ll see anywhere between 4 and 8 inches, and the heaviest snowfall rates are expected Friday night into Saturday morning,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Temperatures will be cold with gradual warming over the next several days. Cold air could settle into valley bottoms, especially at higher elevations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re pretty seasonally normal here through the weekend and into next week as well,\u201d Abbott said. \u201cWe do have some of our cold pool regions, that once they get snow covered can drop off to pretty low temperatures overnight. We could see some region or some locally cool spots, but for the most part, we\u2019ll be around our seasonal normals for both high and low temperatures.\u201d<\/p>\n

She noted that Silverton, which was built in a valley bottom, recorded a low of minus 11 degrees Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n

\"A
A raven finds something to eat on Wednesday in the Durango Walmart parking lot. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

She said the extended weather outlook has models showing equal chances for above or below normal precipitation in Southwest Colorado. Regardless of the iffy forecast, she reminded motorists to be aware of potentially icy roads. Especially in shady areas and high in the mountains, melting snow can refreeze on roads, creating slick ice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be the potential for wet roads to refreeze overnight and into the early morning hours of each day,\u201d Abbott said. \u201cCanyons and shadowed roads are typically where we see a lot of melt-freeze happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The
The West Needle Mountains are covered in snow Thursday east of Purgatory Resort. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

She said travel could become hazardous this weekend over mountain passes \u2013 especially Friday night and Saturday morning, when snow and wind are expected to reduce visibility.<\/p>\n

Brian Lazar, forecaster with the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, urged anyone recreating in the backcountry to check the organization\u2019s forecasts and be aware of the avalanche risk.<\/p>\n

\"A
A recent avalanche reported to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center was triggered by skiers near Red Mountain Pass. (Courtesy of Colorado Avalanche Information Center)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cThe snowpack is hovering around 70% of long-term median (in the San Juans), which isn\u2019t great, but it looks a lot better than it did a few weeks ago,\u201d he said. \u201cThat, of course, led to an uptick in avalanche activity and even a brief period of considerable danger.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said snow that fell Tuesday and Wednesday, as well as the snow expected to fall Friday and Saturday, will make avalanches more likely. Unfortunately, the slopes with the most coverage \u2013 which look the most enticing for skiing and snowboarding \u2013 will likely be the most dangerous.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s tricky at this time of the year is that the places that are most attractive for riding are going to be the most dangerous because they have the best snow coverage,\u201d Lazar said.<\/p>\n

\"The
The top of Engineer Mountain shrouded in clouds Thursday. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Because of that, he advised backcountry travelers to observe the CAIC forecast, which is issued every day about 4 a.m. at avalanche.state.co.us<\/a> and says which aspects of a given slope are safest. Additionally, carrying appropriate safety gear and going with knowledgeable partners is important.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe essential rescue gear is imperative,\u201d Lazar said. \u201cThat is an avalanche transceiver, shovel and probe. And you\u2019re always going to be safer if you travel with partners who both have that equipment and are practiced in using it, because if something does go wrong, getting saved by your companions is really your only realistic hope of coming out unscathed.\u201d<\/p>\n

sedmondson@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Two
Two natural avalanches were observed on a peak off Red Mountain Pass. (Courtesy of Colorado Avalanche Information Center)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A recent snowstorm that moved through the Durango area left much of La Plata County covered in snow Thursday. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Flights largely unaffected, but icy roads make for slick driving conditions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15377,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[916,377,28,259,994,414],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-15376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-air-transport","tag-avalanche-landslide","tag-headlines","tag-transportation","tag-trueanthem","tag-weather"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15376"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19625,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15376\/revisions\/19625"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15376"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=15376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}