More than a foot of heavy, blowing snow is expected to fall on Telluride and other cities around Colorado’s San Juan Mountains this weekend, making travel dangerous, according to the National Weather Service.
The agency issued a winter storm warning early Friday morning covering the northwest and southwest San Juan Mountains, including the cities of Telluride, Ouray, Lake City, Silverton, Rico and Hesperus.
“Roads, and especially bridges and overpasses, will likely become slick and hazardous,” the warning reads, noting that the conditions could last through noon Sunday. “Travel could be very difficult to impossible.”
Winds could gust up to 45 mph at these higher elevations, and as much as 3 feet of snow could fall on certain mountain peaks.
While warm weather has delayed snowfall across the state, a hazardous weather outlook for northeast and north-central Colorado indicated between 1 and 3 inches of snow could settle on areas above 9,000 feet through Friday night.
In the Denver metro area and across the plains, rain is also likely Friday, with NWS forecasters indicating the rain in Denver will likely start after 5 p.m. and continue Saturday. Thunderstorms are possible Friday night.
Temperatures in Denver are unlikely to rise above 60 degrees on Friday, with an overnight low of 38 degrees and winds of 7 to 15 mph gusting up to 24 mph.
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