Colorado snow enthusiasts love their fluffy white “cold-smoke” powder, but how about some of that “Sierra cement?”
A slow-moving storm system crept its way over the Southwest during the last week, dropping dense and damp snow all over surrounding mountains, while it rained buckets around Durango and outlying communities.
“We just had a great moisture feed, straight from the south,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Denni s Phillips in Grand Junction. “It was really heavy, wet snow with a lot of good moisture in it.”
He said the storm was slow to deliver to Durango, but snow did accumulate up to a few inches by Sunday.
On Saturday, the saturated snow was the cause of several power outages, one leaving 1,300 people and an entire Durango Mountain Resort without electricity for three hours. Wet snow commonly disrupts power lines in northern La Plata County, according to La Plata Electric Association.
“We have one forecaster refer to it as Sierra cement,” Phillips said. “He lived out West for a while, and this is the kind of snow they would get in the Sierra Nevadas.”
Phillips described the system as complex, with arctic air moving around in Colorado and dropping into southeastern Utah blanketing desert red-sandstone formations in layers of white.
“It was odd to see snow in places like Natural Bridges (National Monument), but it stayed rain in Durango and Cortez and even farther north,” he said.
Phillips did say the surrounding higher elevations received good snow accumulations.
Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort has reported 29 inches since Wednesday with snow still falling Sunday afternoon.
“Winter has certainly arrived,” said Kim Oyler, director of communications for DMR. She said the resort’s goal is to have as much of the front side of the mountain open as possible on opening day Friday.
Wolf Creek Ski Area reported 34 inches out of the storm.
Seven avalanches were observed in the San Juan Mountains, from Red Mountain to Wolf Creek Pass, and avalanche danger has raised to Level 3 on the Colorado Avalanche Information Center’s website Sunday afternoon, advising travelers and recreationists to have heightened awareness and be extremely cautious.
Crews were blasting for avalanche control between Silverton and Red Mountain Pass near mile marker 82 on U.S. Highway 550, and the Colorado Department of Transportation temporarily enforced chain laws Sunday on Lizard Head, Coal Bank and Wolf Creek passes.
The NWS is calling for sunny skies beginning today and temperatures warming through the week.
bmathis@durangoherald.com
