Vail Pass was reopened early Tuesday after numerous accidents caused by white-out conditions triggered a closure of Interstate 70 for several hours.
Travelers were offered shelter in the Vail Town Council Chambers after , according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.
The highway was reopened nearly five hours later, according to a CDOT tweet.
Winds gusting up 35 mph and up to 8 inches of new snow pounded parts of the Colorado mountains and a winter weather advisory was posted by the National Weather Service, including Vail and Aspen, through 6 a.m. Tuesday.
The eastbound lanes of I-70 were closed in Eagle County because of multiple accidents on Vail Pass, according to a 9:10 p.m. Colorado Department of Transportation Twitter post.
U.S. 24 was closed in both directions between Minturn and Redcliff, Monday night, as was U.S. 6 over Loveland Pass around 10 p.m. and was reopened early Tuesday morning, according to a 1:25 a.m. CDOT tweet.
David Barjenbruch, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Boulder, said more snow is expected to fall in the mountains on Tuesday, with 1 to 4 inches expected during the day and another 3 to 6 inches at night.
Travel will be “slow and hazardous,” he said.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206, kmitchell@denverpost.com or @kirkmitchell or denverpost.com/coldcases
