October blizzard downs trees, blankets streets with snow in Vail
John LaConte/Vail Daily
Vail residents awoke to roughly half a foot of snow on the ground Monday as a storm system blasted the area with winter weather conditions.
The wet, heavy snow downed trees and snarled traffic, requiring crews to clean up affected areas starting at about 8 a.m.
A car that slid off Interstate 70 at mile marker 175 in Vail briefly closed the interstate, and a tree that fell to the ground in the Sandstone area north of I-70 closed the North Recreation Path while crews worked with chainsaws to clean up the debris.
Meteorologist Dennis Phillips with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction said while the winter weather was intense in the morning, it was not expected to last through the day.
“This is an upper low that’s been sitting over the Four Corners area for the last few days, but it’s lifting out now,” Phillips said.
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The storm system brought significant snowfall to the southern part of Colorado, enough to prompt Wolf Creek ski area to announce a Tuesday opening, making it the first ski area to open in North America for the season.
In a snow report issued Tuesday, Wolf Creek officials said the storm brought about 26 inches to the mountain.
“It’s been a prolonged event, just not in your neck of the woods up in Vail,” Phillips said.
Phillips said conditions are expected to dry out by the end of the day Monday, and there’s no more snow in the immediate forecast after that.
“This system looks like it’s delivering one last punch before it gets out of here,” he said.
