{"id":803969,"date":"2020-02-07T15:12:46","date_gmt":"2020-02-07T22:12:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=378663"},"modified":"2020-02-07T15:12:46","modified_gmt":"2020-02-07T22:12:46","slug":"major-snowstorm-wreaks-havoc-along-colorados-i-70-mountain-corridor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/major-snowstorm-wreaks-havoc-along-colorados-i-70-mountain-corridor\/","title":{"rendered":"Major snowstorm wreaks havoc along Colorado\u2019s I-70 mountain corridor"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
The snow continues to fall in Frisco on Friday, Feb. 7, as accumulation wreaks havoc on morning commutes.<\/strong>
Liz Copan \/ ecopan@summitdaily.com<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

FRISCO \u2014 Conditions were brutal along the Interstate 70 mountain corridor Friday as one of the season\u2019s worst snowstorms wreaked havoc on roadways throughout the area.<\/p>\n

Despite a winter storm warning across Summit County and much of the state, the severity of the storm seemed to catch many travelers off guard as they ventured out to take on the challenging conditions on mountain passes.  <\/p>\n

The travel impacts began early Friday with closures shutting down areas of I-70<\/a> from Vail Pass to the Eisenhower\/Johnson Memorial Tunnels and beyond, along with another closure over Loveland Pass on U.S. Highway 6.  <\/p>\n

Roadways opened and closed throughout the day, but between an onslaught of snowfall, spun-out vehicles and even an avalanche that hit the interstate between Frisco and Copper Mountain, things were messy even when moving.<\/p>\n

\u201cConditions were absolutely as bad as expected,\u201d Colorado State Patrol Sgt. Adrian Bevel said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had zero visibility in a lot of spots, we just got done clearing an avalanche, and of course everything with the tunnel and Vail Pass. It\u2019s quite the mess out here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given the conditions, emergency organizations throughout the state \u2014 including the Colorado Department of Transportation, Summit Fire & EMS, State Patrol and more \u2014 were advising everyone to stay put and not try to make their way from the mountains to the Front Range or vice versa.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt the conditions are really dangerous with heavy snow and winds,\u201d Sheriff Jaime FitzSimons said. \u201cWe saw a lot of road impacts \u2014 stranded motorists, a small avalanche, people sliding off the road \u2014 if you\u2019ve got to venture out this weekend, take your time. And if you don\u2019t need to be, you shouldn\u2019t be out in this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Silverthorne Recreation Center opened its doors during the day as a designated warming center for stranded motorists, and the Summit County Animal Shelter opened up as a haven for individuals stuck in the county with a pet. County offices shut down early for the day at around 2:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Headaches for travelers weren\u2019t the only impacts felt by the community due to the weather. Schools throughout the county announced they\u2019d be closed Friday, including campuses with the Summit School District and Colorado Mountain College.<\/p>\n

Residents and visitors hoping to take in some of the county\u2019s culture also were disappointed as the storm forced cancellations to Silverthorne\u2019s February First Friday event<\/a>, Noche de Candela, along with the Ani DiFranco performance at the Breckenridge Riverwalk Center. Both events are expected to be rescheduled.<\/p>\n

Even ski areas were having trouble with the conditions, with Loveland Ski Area announcing early Friday morning that it would not open because of high winds.<\/p>\n

Recreationists should be on the lookout for potential slides with more snow and wind on the way. The Summit County and Vail region has a high avalanche danger across elevations, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, and an avalanche warning is in effect through Saturday morning.<\/p>\n

Avalanche conditions also could affect roadways along the Tenmile Canyon. CDOT is advising that motorists do their best not to stop in the area and not to get out of their cars unless absolutely necessary.<\/p>\n

While the worst of the storm is expected to pass Friday, officials are urging travelers to continue using caution as more winter weather will be moving in and could create poor conditions for the rest of the weekend, as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll be continually reassessing conditions throughout the weekend, and due to the amount of snow, it\u2019s likely we need to continue doing avalanche work over the weekend, specifically on the I-70 corridor,\u201d CDOT spokesperson Elise Thatcher said. \u201cRight now, there\u2019s no time we can say that the roads will be safe. We know there\u2019s more snow on the way, and conditions will continue to be challenging.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no obvious window. We know a lot of people are going to want to go home on Sunday, but if people do attempt that they should be prepared for a very slow trip from the mountains to the Front Range. For now, we recommend if you\u2019re staying in the mountains to stay in the mountains, and if you\u2019re in Denver to stay in Denver.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The snow continues to fall in Frisco on Friday, Feb. 7, as accumulation wreaks havoc on morning commutes.Liz Copan \/ ecopan@summitdaily.com FRISCO \u2014 Conditions were brutal along the Interstate 70 mountain corridor Friday as one of the season\u2019s worst snowstorms wreaked havoc on roadways throughout the area. Despite a winter storm warning across Summit County […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-803969","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-23 08:20:22","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=803969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803969\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=803969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=803969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=803969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}