Poor visibility kept roads in southwest Colorado closed Friday after a blizzard dumped 24 inches of snow in one day.
Heavy snowfall, about an inch an hour, began Thursday afternoon, and winds of 30 to 40 mph created drifts up to 5 feet tall.
Many mountain passes were closed for more than 24 hours.
Friday night, the storm moved into the northwest and central mountains, including Steamboat Springs and Grand Mesa, said Byron Lawrence, spokesman for the National Weather Service.
By Sunday night, those areas could see up to 11 inches of fresh snow.
“We can already see it’s going to be a snowy weekend for these areas,” Lawrence said. “It’s going to be great for the ski areas.”
None of the weather will work its way into the Denver area.
All flights at the Durango-La Plata County Airport were canceled and the airport remained closed Friday, said Gary Caton, Durango assistant city manager.
The first road closures and chain laws were put into place about 2 p.m. Thursday.
Roads that were originally expected to reopen Friday morning remained closed through the evening, Eric Escudero, spokesman for the Colorado Department of Transportation, said.
“If the snow hits as hard in the north as it did in the southwest, you could see some closures,” Escudero said.
As of Friday evening, the following passes were closed: Red Mountain Pass, Molas Pass, Cole Bank Pass, Wolf Creek Pass, Lizard Head Pass and the Cumbres-La Manga passes. Roads will reopen as weather permits.
Red Mountain Pass will not open before this morning, Escudero said.
Chain laws were in place for commercial vehicles on U.S. 550 near Durango, Douglas Pass and Hoosier Pass.
About 2 feet of snow fell in Durango, Pagosa Springs and Silverton. Telluride saw 15 inches.
All Durango schools were closed Friday. The Fort Lewis College campus closed Thursday afternoon and classes were canceled for Friday as well, said Durango assistant city manager Greg Caton.
“Some people will definitely be out and about having fun,” Caton said.
Jordan Steffen:303-954-1638 or jsteffen@denverpost.com
