DILLON — One of this winter’s fiercest storms is hammering the Colorado Rockies, canceling school and closing roads across the region, and the snow isn’t expected to stop anytime soon.
The eastbound lanes of Interstate 70 are closed throughout the mountain corridor from Dotsero west of Vail to Silverthrone on Friday morning. The westbound lanes are closed at Herman Gulch, 3 miles east of the Eisenhower/Johnson Memorial Tunnels, and at Copper Mountain for avalanche control. “Extensive” closures for avalanche mitigation are expected throughout the morning and afternoon, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation. There is no estimated time for the road to reopen.
U.S. Highway 6 over Loveland Pass also is closed.
“Travelers heading to the mountains this morning will see multihour waits as crews blast avalanche paths and remove the resulting debris,” according to a post by CDOT. “It is strongly advised that traffic wait in Denver or other locations until the roadway has officially reopened.”
A winter storm warning remains in effect across the central and northern mountains of Colorado through midnight Friday. The storm is expected to drop an additional 8-18 inches of snow. Wind gusts of up to 65 mph are expected to cause blowing snow and reduced visibility, making travel difficult, according to the warning.
For those headed into the backcountry, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center has issued an avalanche warning for the Summit County and Vail region — along with Aspen, Gunnison, Sawatch, the Front Range and Steamboat — through 8 a.m. Saturday.
“Heavy snowfall and very strong northwesterly winds are building sensitive wind-drifted slabs and rapidly loading buried weak layers,” the forecast states. “You can easily trigger large and dangerous avalanches and some may run naturally.”
A break in the snow is expected Saturday before the next round rolls into the area Saturday night, bringing “light to moderate snow through Sunday,” according to OpenSnow.