The crash east of the tunnel happened around 2:50 p.m. near exit 216 for Loveland Pass as snow coated the highway, according to the Colorado State Patrol.

as of 8:20 p.m., according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.

Nineteen people were evaluated for injuries after the crash, and 11 did not want to be taken to the hospital, the state patrol said in a news release. One person who was taken to the hospital had serious bodily injuries.

Photos of the crash shared by the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s office show snow-covered roads, and snow showers are expected to continue overnight, according to the

The officials voiced those concerns Wednesday as a brigade of state firefighters trained at the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel, spraying water from a $700,000 pumper truck, a smaller “quick reaction” pumper truck, and hoses. Another brigade trained at the Hanging Lake Tunnel in Glenwood Canyon. A few years ago, CDOT crews at the Eisenhower Tunnel, which runs for 1.7 miles under the Continental Divide, relied on a single 30-year-old fire truck.

At least four certified firefighters man the Eisenhower tunnel around the clock, tasked with responding in seconds if sensors detect flames — first evacuating people, then clearing vehicles, then activating a $25 million automated spray system. “We never know what’s going to happen. We always have to be ready,” four-year firefighter Damion Sands said during a break. They count on support from full fire crews arriving from Summit County to the west or Clear Creek County to the east.

For decades, CDOT has managed the vehicle fire risks from industry tanker trucks hauling oil, gas, and other hazardous materials on I-70. State officials have relied on the practice of diverting all hazmat trucks off I-70 and over 11,990-foot Loveland Pass.

But now there’s a new threat.

“What we’re worried about is the EV fires. They don’t go out,” said Jori Ernst, CDOT’s emergency manager, during the training. “We’re not going to be able to fight them.”

Firefighters in full yellow garb, lugging respirators, practiced with hoses and water spray guns that can be controlled using joy sticks inside the trucks. They’re developing strategies for removing burning EVs from the tunnel and letting them burn outside. Crews are practicing with EV fire blankets — heavy tarps they can throw over burning vehicles to contain flames.

There’s never been a fatality caused by a vehicle fire in the Colorado I-70 mountain tunnels. But the a year ago in Wyoming that killed three people, and the 1999 in Europe that killed 39 people, have spurred safety efforts worldwide.

While EV risks aren’t fully understood, firefighters know the batteries that power them “burn hot, and release a lot of toxins,” complicating responses, CDOT fire program manager Peter Igel said. “Do we prevent the exposures and let those fires burn? Or do we try to suppress the fire? If the fire is in the tunnel, hopefully, we can move the burning vehicle outside.”

Since 2017, vehicles have caught fire and burned in the Eisenhower tunnel five times, forcing closures that lasted up to 14 hours, said Paul Fox, manager of CDOT’s tunnels.

The last fire on July 17, 2023, engulfed a van carrying 10 tourists, leading to an eight-hour closure. “We got them all out. They were worried about their luggage,” Fox said.

Another fire broke out in a box truck loaded with cardboard, he said. And one broke in an RV when a generator ignited.

“In the end, it doesn’t matter what starts the fire. It is if the big one happens. We are just worried about that.”

A winter weather advisory will be in effect for northern Colorado from 6 p.m. Tuesday to 9 p.m. Wednesday, including parts of Boulder, Clear Creek, Gilpin, Grand, Jackson, Larimer and Summit counties, . Most of the area will see 2 to 10 inches of snow and up to 50 mph wind gusts, the advisory stated.

As of Tuesday morning, , snowfall amounts expected to accumulate by 6 a.m. Friday included:

• 2 inches at Winter Park, with up to 4 inches possible
• 4 inches at the Keystone Ski Area Summit, with up to 5 inches possible
• 4 inches at Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, with up to 9 inches possible
• 6 inches on Colorado 9’s Hoosier Pass near Breckenridge, with up to 8 inches possible
• 6 inches on Interstate 70’s Vail Pass, with up to 10 inches possible
• 8 inches on U.S. 6’s Loveland Pass, with up to 11 inches possible
• 7 inches on U.S. 40’s Berthoud Pass near Winter Park, with up to 9 inches possible
• 11 inches on Colorado 14’s Cameron Pass near Fort Collins, with up to 14 inches possible
• 10 inches on U.S. 34’s Milner Pass in RMNP, also known as Trail Ridge Road, with up to 13 inches possible
• 20 inches on Mount Zirkel, the highest summit of Colorado’s Park Range of the Rocky Mountains, with up to 36 inches possible

“Roads will become slippery in spots, especially through mountain passes. Travel could be very difficult,” forecasters wrote in the advisory. “The hazardous conditions will impact the Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning commutes.”

A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect from 6pm Tuesday to 9pm Wednesday for the northern Colorado mountains above 9000 feet. Snow accumulations of 2 to 10 inches are expected and winds gusting up to 50 mph. Slick travel is possible!

— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder)

No snow is forecast for the Denver area, according to the weather service.

A heat dome that’s expected to hover over the state and the Mountain West through Saturday is forecast to bring temperatures into the 80s at lower elevations and into the 50s and 60s at higher elevations. The heat this week follows the warmest winter recorded in Colorado since records began in 1895.

“It’s possible that many areas of the state at high elevations have already seen peak snowpack,” Peter Goble, the assistant state climatologist, the Colorado Water Conservation Board’s Water Conditions Monitoring Committee on Tuesday.

The temperatures expected from the heat dome will be high enough to spur melting, said Brian Domonkos, a hydrologist with the Colorado office of the federal . Statewide, snowpack depth typically peaks around April 8.

The National Weather Service — at an elevation of 11,020 feet — shows overnight lows are not expected to drop below freezing until Sunday night. Daytime highs could hit 60 degrees.

, located at nearly 11,000 feet in southern Colorado, is also not forecast to reach freezing temperatures overnight this week.

The record heat is expected to shrink an already anemic snowpack. Statewide snowpack , the lowest recorded since records began in 1986. Some river basins in southern Colorado — including the Rio Grande, the San Juan, the Animas and the Arkansas — had less than half of normal snowpack on Wednesday.

“We have very little winter left,” Domonkos said. “There’s essentially no chance for us to get back to normal snowpack.”

Colorado’s mountains and streams will begin to see increased water flows from the melting this week, according to the .

in Steamboat Springs will likely more than double in the next seven days, from 124 cubic feet per second on Wednesday to more than 400 cfs late next week. The Animas River in Durango could hop from winter flows hovering around 300 cfs to .

Those flows are still far lower than peak runoff flows that will come later this spring and summer. But expected extended warm temperatures, paired with the “extremely grim” snowpack, mean those peak flows will also be lower than normal, said Cody Moser, a hydrologist with the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center, at a briefing Wednesday.

Across the Colorado River Basin — which includes a large swath of western Colorado — those flows are expected to be at or below 70% of the average recorded between 1991 and 2020, he said.

Across the Colorado River Basin, “I think it’s highly likely that we’ve already seen peak snowpack,” Moser said.

The vast majority of Colorado’s water supply comes from its winter snowpack. The lack of snow has water providers across the state enacting drought restrictions or preparing to do so.

Denver Water — which serves 1.5 million people across the Front Range — will likely skip declaring a drought watch and instead skip to the next step by imposing Stage 1 water restrictions, Nathan Elder, the utility’s water supply manager, said Tuesday.

Those restrictions — last implemented in 2013 — in outdoor water use.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Tuesday activated the state Drought Task Force to address the dire conditions. The task force will monitor conditions across the state and recommend mitigation efforts to Polis. The governor last activated the task force in 2020.

If conditions continue to deteriorate, Polis could declare a drought emergency and seek federal disaster assistance.

“Colorado is experiencing the warmest year so far in our 131-year record, and one of the driest,” Polis said in a news release. “Activating the Drought Task Force will help ensure we are protecting one of our most precious resources by closely tracking impacts, supporting communities, and coordinating better as we prepare for the year ahead.”

As of 2:55 p.m., according to the Colorado Department of Transportation, closures included:

• between milemarker 222 and Interstate 70, including Loveland Pass, for “safety concerns.”

Southbound I-25 was closed near Colorado Springs on Sunday morning, between Exit 158 for Baptist Road and Exit 156 for Northgate Boulevard, but had reopened by 11:45 a.m., according to the .

Colorado weather: Snow falls in Denver, more to come in mountains

Cameras in the area of the I-25 crash during the closure showed and on the open side of the highway. At least one CDOT camera was bouncing in the wind.

Westbound I-70 was also closed Sunday morning near Limon, and several lanes of northbound I-25 were closed in the metro area near Greenwood Village for crashes. Both closures had been cleared by 11:55 a.m. Sunday.

No additional information about any of the crashes was available.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

The trail in Clear Creek Canyon Park, located just west of Golden, is part of the Jefferson County Open Space system. The trail now extends 3.25 miles up the canyon, following the opening of a 1.5-mile extension in November that includes four new bridges, 1,200 feet of trail on a viaduct similar to the elevated highway decks in Glenwood Canyon, multiple creek access points and a new trailhead with a 42-space parking lot and restrooms accessed by U.S. 6.

The first 1.75-mile segment, which opened in 2021, begins at the Gateway Trailhead, located at the entrance to the canyon at the foot of Mount Zion. A third segment, adding another 1.5 miles upstream from where the trail now ends, is expected to open in late summer. That will bring the length of the trail in the canyon to 4.75 miles, with still more extensions coming in future years.

The trail also connects with the long-established Clear Creek Trail east of the Gateway Trailhead, which passes through downtown Golden and extends all the way to the South Platte River in Adams County.

The section that opened in November is called the CCR segment, a nod to the narrow-gauge Colorado Central Railroad, which operated in the canyon from 1872 to 1941 to serve the needs of mining operations in Central City and Blackhawk. After the rails were removed, the railroad grade was raised for flood mitigation and construction of U.S. 6. The highway opened in 1952.

The trail surface, composed of rust-tinted concrete to harmonize with its surroundings, is 10 feet wide and ADA compliant, meaning the maximum grade is 5%. Bridges on the trail include porches so visitors can pause and admire views without impeding others passing through.

Last Friday, 4 to 6 inches of fresh snow blanketed the trail. Jeffco Open Space was quick to plow the trail Saturday morning in time for weekend crowds, “as it will do every time it snows,” according to spokesman Matt Robbins.

Fed by runoff from that snowstorm, the creek ran heavy, creating rushing rapids beneath rock walls that soar 1,000 feet. Where the trail now ends, a sign describes what is coming this summer: The Huntsman’s Rancho segment will include four bridges, creek access points and a parking area with more than 70 spaces. Like the segment that opened in November, the trail’s next segment will include a viaduct set on concrete pillars.

Because of those engineering challenges, the segment that opened in November and the one coming later this year cost $80 million to build. Primary funding came from Jeffco Open Space, along with support from Great Outdoors Colorado and the Denver Regional Council of Governments.

The Clear Creek Trail as a whole also is known as the Peaks to Plains Trail, capturing its entirety from Adams County through Jefferson County. The ultimate vision for P2P, as it is nicknamed, is for a 65-mile trail that follows Clear Creek from the South Platte through Denver, Wheat Ridge, Golden, Idaho Springs and Georgetown, terminating at the headwaters on Loveland Pass.

Snow will be possible from Thursday morning to Saturday afternoon in the mountains and from Thursday night to Friday night in the metro area, according to the weather service.

Colorado snow forecast as of Thursday morning

• 1 inch in Fort Collins, Greeley, Loveland and Fort Morgan, with up to 3 inches possible
• 2 inches in Aurora, Arvada, Denver and Commerce City, with up to 4 inches possible
• 3 inches in Centennial and Littleton, with up to 4 inches possible
• 3 inches in Boulder, Highlands Ranch and Lakewood, with up to 5 inches possible
• 4 inches in Castle Rock and Parker, with up to 6 inches possible
• 6 inches in Estes Park, with up to 8 inches possible
• 8 inches on U.S. 40’s Muddy Pass near Kremmling and Colorado 125’s Willow Creek Pass near Granby, with up to 10 inches possible
• 8 inches in Breckenridge and Georgetown, and at the Keystone Ski Area Summit, with up to 11 inches possible
• 9 inches in Nederland, with up to 11 inches possible
• 10 inches in Conifer and at Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, with up to 12 inches possible
• 11 inches in Eldora and Winter Park, and on Colorado 14’s Cameron Pass near Fort Collins and Interstate 70’s Vail Pass, with up to 15 inches possible
• 13 inches on U.S. 6’s Loveland Pass, with up to 15 inches possible
• 13 inches on U.S. 40’s Berthoud Pass near Winter Park, with up to 17 inches possible

A winter storm warning will be in effect for Colorado’s mountains — including parts of Jackson, Larimer, Grand, Boulder, Gilpin, Clear Creek, Summit and Park counties — from late Thursday night to late Friday night for heavy snow and strong winds, .

“Blowing snow will reduce visibilities and cause hazardous travel,” .

In the Front Range mountains and foothills, a separate winter weather advisory will also be in effect from late Thursday night to late Friday night for snow and wind, .

A system will bring accumulating snow to the mountains and foothills late Thursday night into Friday. A Winter Storm Watch and Winter Weather Advisory are in effect for those locations. Blowing snow will reduce visibilities and cause hazardous travel!

— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder)

Snow will be possible in Colorado’s mountains between Monday morning and Tuesday night, pausing on Wednesday and starting up again on Thursday, weather service forecasters said.

In lower elevations, including Denver, rain showers are forecast between Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, according to the weather service. Rain will also resume on Thursday, and snow will be possible in the metro area between Thursday and Friday.

Denver weather: Near-record heat forecast for city ahead of rain, snow

The cover three days. As of Monday, the following snow totals were expected to accumulate by 5 a.m. Friday:

• 1 inch in Georgetown, with up to 3 inches possible
• 2 inches on Interstate 70's Vail Pass and U.S. 40’s Muddy Pass near Kremmling, with up to 3 inches possible
• 2 inches in Eldora and Winter Park, with up to 4 inches possible
• 3 inches on U.S. 6’s Loveland Pass and Colorado 125’s Willow Creek Pass near Granby, with up to 4 inches possible
• 3 inches on U.S. 40’s Berthoud Pass near Winter Park, with up to 6 inches possible
• 4 inches at Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, with up to 5 inches possible
• 5 inches on U.S. 34’s Milner Pass in RMNP, with up to 7 inches possible
• 6 inches on Colorado 14’s Cameron Pass near Fort Collins and Mount Zirkel, the highest summit of Colorado's Park Range of the Rocky Mountains, with up to 9 inches possible

As of Tuesday morning, , snowfall expected to accumulate by 5 a.m. Friday included:

• 4 inches in Eldora and Winter Park, with up to 6 inches possible
• 5 inches on Colorado 9’s Hoosier Pass near Breckenridge, with up to 7 inches possible
• 5 inches on Colorado 125’s Willow Creek Pass near Granby, with up to 10 inches possible
• 6 inches on Interstate 70’s Vail Pass and U.S. 6’s Loveland Pass, with up to 10 inches possible
• 7 inches on U.S. 40’s Muddy Pass near Kremmling, with up to 12 inches possible
• 8 inches at Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, with up to 11 inches possible
• 8 inches on U.S. 40’s Berthoud Pass near Winter Park, with up to 13 inches possible
• 13 inches on Colorado 14’s Cameron Pass near Fort Collins and U.S. 34’s Milner Pass in RMNP, with up to 18 inches possible
• 19 inches on Mount Zirkel, the highest summit of Colorado’s Park Range of the Rocky Mountains, with up to 30 inches possible

Snow will start in the mountains as early as 11 a.m. Tuesday and continue through Thursday morning, but the strongest chance for accumulating snow lies between 5 p.m. Tuesday and 4 p.m. Wednesday, .

Heavy snow and strong winds gusting up to 65 mph will reduce visibility and make travel difficult in Colorado’s mountains, especially Tuesday night, according to a from the weather service.

The warning, which will be in effect from 8 p.m. Tuesday to late Wednesday near midnight, covers parts of Jackson, Larimer, Grand and Boulder counties.

Snow will return to the mountains Tuesday afternoon through Thursday morning. Strong winds on Tuesday and Wednesday will cause blowing snow and create low visibility at times. Be cautious while driving!

— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder)

Further east, a was issued for parts of Grand, Boulder, Gilpin, Clear Creek, Summit and Park counties from late Tuesday night to late Wednesday night, according to the weather service. That includes Breckenridge, Winter Park, Berthoud Pass and the Mosquito and Gore mountain ranges.

No snow is forecast for the Denver area.

The winter weather will create dangerous avalanche conditions for backcountry explorers, and is expected to disrupt travel on mountain roads and highways, including Interstate 70, forecasters said.

“Travel on I-70 through the mountains will rapidly deteriorate after 6 a.m. as strong winds and snow spread eastward across Colorado’s mountains,” .

According to weather service forecasts, snowfall amounts expected to accumulate between 5 a.m. Tuesday and 5 a.m. Friday included:

• 1 inch in Conifer and Bailey, with up to 2 inches possible
• 6 inches in Eldora, with up to 7 inches possible
• 7 inches in Winter Park and Breckenridge, with up to 9 inches possible
• 9 inches on U.S. 40’s Berthoud Pass near Winter Park, with up to 13 inches possible
• 11 inches on U.S. 6’s Loveland Pass and U.S. 40’s Muddy Pass near Kremmling, with up to 14 inches possible
• 12 inches on Colorado 125’s Willow Creek Pass near Granby, Interstate 70’s Vail Pass and Colorado 9’s Hoosier Pass near Breckenridge, with up to 15 inches possible
• 14 inches on Colorado 14’s Cameron Pass near Fort Collins, with up to 17 inches possible
• 15 inches on U.S. 34’s Milner Pass in Rocky Mountain National Park, with up to 18 inches possible
• 18 inches at Bear Lake in RMNP, with up to 21 inches possible
• 32 inches on Mount Zirkel, the highest summit in Colorado’s Park Range of the Rocky Mountains, with up to 38 inches possible

A will be in effect for Park, Grand and Summit counties — including Rocky Mountain National Park and the Medicine Bow, Mosquito and Indian Peaks mountain ranges — until 11 p.m. Wednesday, according to the weather service.

Winter storm warnings will also be active until 5 a.m. Thursday for the Rabbit Ears Pass area in , the , the and the , according to the weather service.

This week’s snowstorm will create “high” and “extreme” avalanche danger for several of Colorado’s mountain ranges, including the San Juan and Park ranges, forecasters said in an .

“The biggest storm of the season is bringing strong winds and feet of snow to an area with a very weak snowpack,” . “You can easily trigger large and dangerous avalanches on most steep slopes. … Travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended.”

This is a developing story and may be updated.