Sweeping avalanche buried 10 cars, trapping people for an hour.
Sweeping avalanche buried 10 cars, trapping people for an hour.
Over the last week our January blast of Winter weather has buried many Colorado mountains with 1 to over 4 feet of snow. While the eastern plains delt with an Arctic blast, our mountain areas have seen multiple waves of heavy snow and wind over the last 8 days. Steamboat Springs for example picked up 50 inches of snow since Wednesday of last week. For the month Steamboat has seen over 76 inches of snow!

Heavy snow in the Winter Park Area caused the closure of Berthoud Pass for several days due to avalanches. Berthoud Pass back currently open after avalanches, some Colorado travelers still hoping to avoid hours-long detour



Heavy snow and wind also produced dangerous driving conditions along the I-70 corridor on Wednesday. Vail Pass had to also, close a few times during the day. I-70 Vail Pass back open after closing due to safety concerns in Colorado mountains

Mountain snow amounts Wednesday AM Jan. 10th thru Wednesday AM Jan. 17th. With more to come!

Steamboat Resort: 50″
Crested Butte: 48
Winter Park: 47″
Eldora: 46″
Copper Mountain Resort: 41″
Arapahoe Basin Ski Area: 40″
Wolf Creek: 39″
Loveland Ski Area: 37″
Vail Mountain: 37″
Breckenridge Ski Resort: 36″
Beaver Creek: 35″
Silverton: 33″
Ski Cooper: 33″
Keystone Resort: 29″
Telluride: 24″
Aspen Snowmass: 23″
Aspen Mountain: 22″
Purgatory: 19″
Sunlight: 16″
Buttermilk: 10″
Granby Ranch: 8″

All of these numbers will be a lot higher by Thursday as another surge of snow is ramping up with another 1 to 2 feet possible in some northern mountain areas. Winter Storm Warnings and Advisories are posted for the northern and central mountains of the state through Friday morning.

The Avalanche Warnings are also extended through Thursday night. Backcountry travel and out of bounds skiing is highly discouraged. The danger is rated 4 out of a scale of 5.

Friday should clear out and winds should be weaker as well. Over the weekend temperatures will be a bit warmer with a few chances of light snow.