Snowfall continued in Colorado’s mountains Wednesday, and the storm was expected to make its way into the Denver area by Friday, according to the National Weather Service.
As of Wednesday morning, several areas in Colorado’s mountains had already reported more than 6 inches of snow accumulation, with at least one spotter near Crested Butte reporting 11 inches, according to the weather service’s snow report map.
But the storm isn’t over yet.
The following snowfall amounts are expected to accumulate between 5 a.m. Wednesday and 5 a.m. Saturday, according to the weather service:
- 1 inch in Aurora, Brighton, Commerce City, Denver, Highlands Ranch, Littleton and Northglenn, and at Denver International Airport
- 1 inch in Arvada, Boulder, Castle Rock, Fort Collins, Parker and Longmont, with up to 2 inches possible
- 1 inch in Crook and Sterling on the Eastern Plains, with up to 4 inches possible
- 2 inches in Conifer, Estes Park and Julesburg, with up to 4 inches possible
- 5 inches in Georgetown, with up to 6 inches possible
- 6 inches in Eldora, Breckenridge, Grand Lake and at the Keystone Ski Area Summit, with up to 7 inches possible
- 7 inches on Interstate 70’s Vail Pass, with up to 10 inches possible
- 8 inches on Colorado 125’s Willow Creek Pass near Granby, Colorado 9’s Hoosier Pass near Breckenridge and at Winter Park, with up to 10 inches possible
- 9 inches on U.S. 6’s Loveland Pass and U.S. 40’s Berthoud Pass near Winter Park, with up to 11 inches possible
- 10 inches on U.S. 40’s Muddy Pass near Kremmling, with up to 12 inches possible
- 11 inches on Colorado 14’s Cameron Pass near Fort Collins, U.S. 34’s Milner Pass in Rocky Mountain National Park and at Bear Lake in RMNP, with up to 13 inches possible
- 21 inches on Mount Zirkel, the highest summit in the Park Range of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, with up to 25 inches possible
Denver will see chances of snow between 2 p.m. Wednesday and 4 a.m. Thursday, and between 5 a.m. Friday and 5 a.m. Saturday, according to hourly forecasts from the weather service. The strongest chance of accumulating snow will be overnight Friday into Saturday.
Snow is forecast in the mountains through Saturday evening, according to the weather service.
Recreationists should avoid Colorado’s backcountry in the Park, Gore Flat Tops and Elkhead mountain ranges because of high avalanche danger, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
High danger, a level four on the five-point danger scale, is forecast for most of Colorado’s northern, central and southern mountain ranges on Wednesday and Thursday, according to the information center. An avalanche warning will be in effect for the mountains until 5 p.m. Thursday.
“Very dangerous avalanche conditions will persist in most of these areas through Thursday, possibly into Friday if winds stay elevated and keep blowing snow, and if Friday’s wave of snow turns out to be more than is currently forecast,” state officials wrote in an avalanche forecast. “For now, avoid traveling in avalanche terrain.”
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