Another major winter storm clapped Steamboat Springs and communities in the Yampa Valley over the weekend, part of a pattern of severe weather conditions that brought heavy snowfall and high winds to the Western Slope of Colorado.
On the roads, those travelling by car or truck experienced harsh conditions and road closures, including the shutting-down of Rabbit Ears Pass on Saturday morning.
The road eventually opened and remained free to travel as of 6 p.m. on Sunday, with the state’s Department of Transportation, CDOT, reporting heavy snowfall and dangerous ice conditions combined with poor visibility.
The Steamboat ski resort’s mountain conditions bulletin on Sunday reported 21 inches fell at its mid-mountain site over the previous three days, pushing its season’s totals to 184 inches.
Late Sunday afternoon, the resort said in an alert that “extreme weather” was impacting the mountain’s operations. The weekend’s winter conditions forced the resort to close lifts at certain times due to high winds and avalanche conditions.
Local first responders provided warnings for back country recreational users to take note over the region’s dangerous conditions.
“Frigid temperatures, deep blowing snow, HIGH avalanche danger and exposed creeks will combine to make travel in the backcountry difficult for everyone,” read a post from Routt County Search and Rescue.
An avalanche closed a section of U.S. Interstate 70 Sunday afternoon from roughly three miles east of Winter Park between Robins Roost and Henderson Mine.
CDOT said travelers on Monday and Tuesday should expect delays for winter maintenance work and snow removal operations on U.S. I-70, U.S. 40 and U.S. 50, along with other mountain passes.
Over the course of the weekend, the storm had also forced closures at Loveland Pass, Berthoud Pass, Red Mountain Pass and Cameron Pass.
Michael Weissbluth, a local Steamboat meteorologist, said in his bi-weekly SnowAlarm.com report Sunday that Steamboat should expect “between 8-16 (inches) of new snow on the (resort’s) Monday morning report, with another 2-5″ during the day in which mountaintop temperatures fall from around (10) degrees in the early morning to zero by noon and -10 F by 6 (p.m.) on their way to around -15 F by Tuesday morning.”
“Frigid temperatures follow on Tuesday with lows in the negative teens at all elevations, though the appearance of the sun will help make a cold day feel warmer,” added Weissbluth.
“The break in the weather will be brief as another storm similar to the one last night restarts snow showers on Wednesday that last into Thursday.”