More than a foot of snow is forecast to fall across parts of Colorado’s high country Friday, with another storm close behind to bring long-awaited snow to the state.
A winter weather advisory is in effect through 5 p.m. Friday for the Park Range and northern Front Range, where forecasters expect the highest snow totals. Up to 9 inches are forecast for the Park Range in northwestern Colorado and up to 7 inches along the northern Front Range, according to forecasts with the National Weather Service’s Office in Boulder.
The snowstorm is raising avalanche concerns and expected to slow traffic during the extended holiday weekend.The storm comes after weeks of high temperatures and a generally dry stretch, punctuated by an early December system that dumped more than a foot of snow in some areas.
“Typically, by this time of the year, we would have had a few more of those kinds of systems,” Bruno Rodriguez, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Office in Boulder, said.
“We still have plenty of time. In the next couple of months, we tend to see an upward trend in snowfall in the mountains.”
Snowpack levels are far below average for this time of the year and December brought above-normal temperatures across the state. Akron, on the Eastern Plains, “easily” had its warmest December since the weather service began recording, and saw a record 13 days with highs of 60 degrees or higher, according to forecasters in Boulder.
Denver saw “an impressive stretch” of temperatures that were well above normal, and even with cold snaps at the start and end of the month, December finished as the city’s second-warmest, the weather service said.
Farther west, Dillon, also had its second-warmest December and for the first time on record, had a low temperature above freezing, according to the weather service.
A second storm Monday, that could linger into Tuesday, could bring several inches to the same areas, as well as the Interstate 70 corridor, Rodriguez said.
“The snowiest months are still ahead so there’s still opportunity to make up for some lost ground. But we are quite a bit behind schedule,” Rodriguez said.
A foot or more of new snow is expected to dramatically increase avalanche danger, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center said in an advisory issued Friday to warn backcountry travelers in the Elk and West Elk mountains. The group issues “special avalanche advisories” when conditions create an increased risk for many people, including during holiday weekends that bring more people to the backcountry.
Large avalanches that could “seriously injure or kill someone,” the CAIC warned, advising all backcountry travelers to check the avalanche forecast regularly and adjust plans accordingly.
Avalanche danger is “considerable” in the Park Range north of Steamboat Springs and people in the backcountry can trigger avalanches that break in the new snow or on the interface of the new and old snow, the center said. In other parts of the state, where forecasts show snow totals of about 4 to 8 inches, avalanche danger is moderate.
“People may be able to trigger avalanches from a distance, so travelers should watch for steep slopes above them and consider the presence of other parties nearby,” the CAIC said in its warning.
Drivers should also be aware of strong wind gusts, up to 60 mph, that could lower visibility from blowing snow.
“Today’s already fairly breezy in the high country and we look to get another wave of really strong winds Sunday and that should carry a little bit into Monday as well,” Rodriguez said.
The Colorado Department of Transportation has traction laws in effect for many roads across the high country. That means passenger vehicles must have mud or snow tires or use chains or alternative traction devices or have four-wheel drive or all-wheel drive.
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