{"id":29901,"date":"2024-01-04T20:55:51","date_gmt":"2024-01-05T03:55:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/four-corners-storm-closes-schools-in-san-juan-county\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T01:06:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T07:06:39","slug":"four-corners-storm-closes-schools-in-san-juan-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/four-corners-storm-closes-schools-in-san-juan-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Four Corners storm closes schools in San Juan County"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Shawn
Shawn Ahiyite, an employee of the McDonald\u2019s in Aztec, works on shoveling the driveway and parking lot to clear it for customers on Thursday. Crystal Shelton\/Tri-City Record<\/span>Crystal Shelton\/Special to Tri-City Record<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

A winter storm dumped 3 to 6 inches of snow across much of the Four Corners early Thursday, resulting in difficult driving conditions for commuters and closing schools in northwest New Mexico.<\/p>\n

For the most part, roads remained open and the highway system was functioning as normal, said Lisa Schwantes, a spokeswoman with the Colorado Department of Transportation in Southwest Colorado.<\/p>\n

However, U.S. Highway 160 was closed about 5 miles south of Cortez Thursday morning from about 5:30 a.m. to about 8:20 a.m. after a semitractor-trailer jackknifed near mile marker 31, Schwantes said. The front hill leading to Fort Lewis College in Durango was also closed.<\/p>\n

Law enforcement responded to several minor traffic crashes.<\/p>\n

\"A
A snowplow clears snow off Butler Avenue in Farmington on Thursday. Crystal Shelton\/Special to Tri-City Record<\/span>Crystal Shelton\/Special to Tri-City Record<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Jared
Jared Blake helps his 3-year-old son, Dexter, and 7-month-old daughter, Zayda, sled at Civitan Park in Farmington on Thursday. Crystal Shelton\/Special to Tri-City Record<\/span>Crystal Shelton\/Special to Tri-City Record<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The Blake family sleds at Civitan Park in Farmington on Thursday. Crystal Shelton\/Special to Tri-City Record<\/span>Crystal Shelton\/Special to Tri-City Record<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Tianna
Tianna Blake adds finishing touches to a snowman she built with her family as children sled at Civitan Park in Farmington on Thursday. Crystal Shelton\/Special to Tri-City Record<\/span>Crystal Shelton\/Special to Tri-City Record<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Central
Central Consolidated Schools declare a snow day on Jan. 4. (Alx Lee\/Tri-City Record)<\/span>Alx Lee<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A snowplow drives north on U.S. Highway 550 just north of Durango on Thursday morning. (Courtesy of Colorado Department of Transportation)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Snow also impacted Farmington and Northwest New Mexico. This would be the first major snowfall in winter season.<\/p>\n

Several inches of snow accumulated on U.S. Highway 491 between Shiprock and the Colorado state line, slowing car and truck traffic to 25 mph in places.<\/p>\n

According to Devin Neeley, public information manager for San Juan County, the winter storm brought 4 or 5 inches of snow to the area.<\/p>\n

Snowplows from the New Mexico Department of Transportation were on call since midnight, plowing and treating roads, said public information officer Jim Murray.<\/p>\n

All the snowplows were out Thursday morning, according to Murray. He estimated between 10 to 20 snowplows were out in San Juan County. Shiprock has six plows. Farmington and Bloomfield have at least six plows.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose two are pretty big patrols because they cover a wide area,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

When Murray spoke with Michael Mayo, City of Farmington patrol supervisor, he said the roads were pretty bad at 7 a.m.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of roadway to cover up that way,\u201d Murray said when it came to the snowplow activity that morning.<\/p>\n

U.S. Highway 64 is the main focus of snowplow efforts. Other main highways are U.S. 550 and 491, Murray said.<\/p>\n

Murray emphasized the activity of the snowplows and if they were not seen on one road, they would be working to clear others.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more lanes the better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Farmington Assistant City Manager Shana Reeves said the city of Farmington began maintaining roads at 5 a.m. Thursday and shifted its focus to \u201csmall routes\u201d at 1 p.m. Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cLocal streets will be addressed over the next few days and weeks,\u201d Reeves said, adding that another winter storm is expected to hit the region Sunday. \u201cIf that occurs, it may reset our cycle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harper Hill, on U.S. 64 on the city\u2019s western edge, was closed until 8:30 a.m. Thursday. \u201cPeople were not able to get up the hill,\u201d said Farmington Police spokeswoman Shanice Gonzales.<\/p>\n

Several roads in Farmington were closed while Farmington Police Officers responded to crashes. The intersection of Pi\u00f1on Hills Boulevard and North Butler Avenue was closed because of an crash with minor injuries, Gonzales said.<\/p>\n

There also were crashes on Apache Street and at Apache Street and West Main Street. \u201cIt was super-busy this morning,\u201d Gonzales said.<\/p>\n

New Mexico State Police also were busy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been at least a dozen motor vehicle accidents in San Juan County, Rio Arriba County and Taos County since 6 a.m.,\u201d said State Police officer Kyle Lee, who works in the northern region of the state.<\/p>\n

The San Juan County Sheriff\u2019s Office responded to 16 motorist assists and three accidents.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were no major injuries,\u201d said Mathew Chavez, spokesman for the Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

Schools in San Juan County are closed<\/strong><\/p>\n

Farmington Municipal Schools, Central Consolidated, and San Juan College canceled classes on Thursday, and Aztec Municipal Schools switched to remote learning.<\/p>\n

Bloomfield was on winter break and was scheduled to return Jan 5.<\/p>\n

Aztec\u2019s decision to move to remote learning comes after 2023 legislature, House Bill 130, required an increase in hours of 990 in elementary and 1,080 in secondary to 1,140 for all students, Kevin Summers, Aztec Superintendent said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat being said, cancellations for snow are no longer a possibility; otherwise students would have to make up missed instructional time, which would require students and staff to return after Memorial Day,\u201d he said. \u201cHence, we opted to preserve instructional time during inclement weather by opting for either a two-hour day or a remote\/virtual day.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the FMS website<\/a>, the district does not hold remote learning with school closures because of inclement weather. FMS will make announcements the night before or by 5 a.m the day of.<\/p>\n

San Juan College closely follows FMS weather delay and closure procedures, according to Boomer Appleman, vice president of student services.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt San Juan College, or top priority is the safety and well-being of our students and dedicated employees,\u201d Appleman said in an email.<\/p>\n

According to Central\u2019s inclement weather procedure, the district starts with a road check at 4 a.m. The superintendent will receive a recommendation from the transportation coordinator by 5:30 a.m., and by 6 a.m., an announcement to parents is made.<\/p>\n

Jerrod Noble, public relations supervisor, said a transportation team of four made went out to make a report at 4 a.m., and at 4:55 a.m., a recommendation from the transportation coordinator was made to Superintendent Steve Carlson.<\/p>\n

Central schools will make up for the snow day in March, Noble said. In the past, Central had moved learning to remote during inclement weather.<\/p>\n

\u201cSnow days are awesome,\u201d he said \u201cWe don\u2019t do remote days anymore, we want to do snow days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senior centers in Aztec and Blanco closed, along with the Riverview Golf Course.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe get about better than 300 days of golf out there a year, and I was out there last week and it was about 17 degrees. And they had, I think, four or five foursomes on the course. So the only time we close it river view is if there\u2019s snow on the course,\u201d said Neeley.<\/p>\n

Neeley said six county plows worked on major roads beginning about 5 a.m. \u201cThey will continue until the weather improves,\u201d Neeley wrote in a text.<\/p>\n

Purgatory Resort and Wolf Creek Ski Area both reported 3 inches from overnight snowfall as of 10 a.m.<\/p>\n

Schwantes described road conditions as slushy or mushy in Durango and more hard-packed north of town as the elevation increased.<\/p>\n

She said crews were \u201cout in force.\u201d<\/p>\n

CDOT crews were reporting 3 to 6 inches on the mountain passes as of 6:30 a.m., \u201cand it\u2019s obviously still snowing out there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

All schools in La Plata County School District were open. In Montezuma County, schools remain on winter break until Dec. 9 in Montezuma-Cortez School District RE-1, Dolores School District RE-4A and Mancos School District RE-6.<\/p>\n

U.S. highways 550 and 160 over Wolf Creek Pass remained open as of 10:30 a.m. Thursday.<\/p>\n

Shane Benjamin and Tyler Brown of the Durango Herald and David Edward Albright of the Tri-City Record contributed to this article.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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