Tons Of Snow In Colorado Has Made Treks To The Mountains Slow, Difficult And Popular — And There’s More Coming

Much of Colorado is recovering after a hefty winter storm late in the week. But don’t get too comfortable because a little more snow is expected this weekend. 

Light snow is forecast in the mountains Saturday night and it’s also likely for the Front Range and Interstate 25 corridor.  

“Just 1 to 2 inches (in metro Denver) and the along the Front Range, and a little bit more up in the mountains again, but nothing like what we had yesterday,” said Greg Hanson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder. “Even though the snowfall amounts are kind of typical for winter, with everybody we have out there playing in the mountains, there was still some pretty big impacts.”

A busy drive is expected on Interstate 70 to the mountains Saturday morning after snow continued in the high country overnight. The interstate westbound from Golden to the Eisenhower Tunnel were closed for several hours Friday.   

Early Saturday morning, Colorado’s Department of Transportation said its website was down because so many people were online.

The weather caused Keystone Resort to cancel night skiing the last two nights. Spokeswoman Loryn Roberson said Friday that the snow was incredible. 

“For anyone from the Front Range who's making a plan to come up, be patient, be safe,” she said. “It's going to be an incredible weekend out there no matter when you get up there.”

Loveland said it will re-open Saturday, although some lifts will remain closed. It closed Friday due to high winds while other ski resorts started late Friday when some employees couldn’t make it in to work. 

CPR’s Corey Jones said he was able to get through the tunnel early Saturday morning but saw cars spun-out.

Avalanche danger is high for the central and northern mountains. The mountains near the Eisenhower Tunnel got between 2 and 3 feet of snow, Hanson said. Depending on where people were in metro Denver, they got between 6 and 8 inches.

Sunday temperatures will be in the 20s with light snow in the morning, Hanson said. He forecasts a slight chance of snow for Monday morning’s commute with temperatures warming up to the mid-30s.