National Weather Service
A winter storm warning has been issued for Sunday and Monday and includes Pitkin County and the Aspen area as a strong cold front pushes through Colorado.
In the warning, the National Weather Service says four to eight inches of snow could fall in the mountains around Aspen and more in northern Colorado. The warning is in effect from 9 a.m. Sunday to 6 p.m. Monday.
“Heavy snowfall will begin by mid-morning Sunday, with heaviest snowfall expected Sunday afternoon through midnight. Snowfall will continue through Monday,” the warning states.
The Aspen forecast calls for a high of 51 degrees Sunday and rain turning to snow about 5 p.m. with wind gusts up to 25 mph.
Travel could be very difficult, according to the weather service, and motorists should expect “hazardous winter driving conditions on all roads, especially over the high mountains passes.”
The Colorado Department of Transportation is the agency that decides if Highway 82 east of Aspen over Independence Pass closes at any point. 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. The pass typically reopens the Thursday before Memorial Day.
For those traveling by air, the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport website updates arrival and departure times at aspenairport.com.
The storm will be followed by another chance of snow Tuesday in the mountains. The overnight lows are expected in the teens early this week and near zero Wednesday night, according to the NWS.
“Dry air will filter in behind the front on Monday, however, the next system will arrive quickly on its heels, brining more snow to the divide mountains on Tuesday,” says the NWS outlook.