National Weather Service
The winter weather that came through the Colorado mountains Sunday is expected to last into Monday and make the morning commute a bit more treacherous, according to the National Weather Service.
Another winter weather advisory was issued by the NWS’s Grand Junction office Sunday afternoon, and it is scheduled to run until 9 p.m. Monday. The Aspen area is forecast to get about an inch of snow, according to the weather service forecast, with a few more inches of snow at higher elevations.
Sunday’s update warns of wind gusts up to 40 mph causing “patchy blowing snow (that) could significantly reduce visibility, especially on ridge tops. Gusty winds could bring down tree branches.”
The NWS said another push of moisture will bring additional snow
showers across northern and central mountains early Monday morning.
“Showers will taper off by Monday afternoon, with the next best chance of mountain showers (coming) Wednesday,” according to the forecast.
The high Monday in Aspen is 42 degrees, and 54 degrees for Tuesday. Overnight lows are in the 20s nearly all week.
Highway 82 over Independence Pass east of Aspen stayed open over the weekend. The Colorado Department of Transportation is the agency that decides if Independence Pass closes. The agency sends out information via its Twitter account @ColoradoDOT and online at cotrip.org.
Independence Pass typically closes for the season within the first two weeks of November. Last year, the pass closed Nov. 5 after a storm dropped a foot of snow at the summit, which is 12,095 feet. It closed Nov. 17 in both 2016 and 2017, according to CDOT. In 2015, it closed for the season Nov. 4.
Interstate 70 over Vail Pass was closed at times over the weekend and chain laws were activated.
For those traveling via the airport, the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport website updates arrival and departure times at aspenairport.com. There were delays and cancellations over the weekend at the Aspen airport.