Snow to slow in Roaring Fork Valley after weekend dumping
Ray K. Erku/The Aspen Times
After a weekend of heavy snow, the Roaring Fork Valley will see light snow in the coming week and dry weather next weekend, according to OpenSnow.
All four mountains saw almost a foot of heavy snow overnight Saturday. Aspen Mountain had 11 inches overnight, Snowmass had 10 inches, Aspen Highlands had nine, and Buttermilk at seven. The snow quality was thicker due to warmer temperatures that kicked off the storm and strong winds as the cold front came through at the start of the weekend, OpenSnow meteorologist Sam Collentine said in a snow report Sunday morning.
Snow continued throughout the day Sunday, delaying some FIS Ski World Cup races in the morning as crews worked to clear the race course. High winds caused some lifts to close throughout the weekend.
Between three to six inches of snow are expected for all four mountains in the coming days, according to OpenSnow. Light snow will likely come Wednesday through Friday.
The weekend’s storm brought up to 15 inches across the Interstate corridor, according to Collentine.
The National Weather Service issued an avalanche warning on Saturday for several areas across the Western Slope including the Elk Mountains. Heavy snow and strong winds created dangerous avalanche conditions in the backcountry and raised the avalanche danger level to high.
Travel in the backcountry is not recommended, but the NWS especially urged caution against traveling on and under slopes steeper than about 30 degrees.
