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Weather roundup: Closures, cancellations and more

Heavy snowfall leaves Interstate 70 snow packed on Thursday morning as drivers make their way through Glenwood near exit 116.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent

Cancellations

CMC afternoon and evening classes: as of 3 p.m. Thursday, all afternoon and evening classes at Colorado Mountain College Spring Valley, Glenwood Springs Blake Center and Rifle campuses are cancelled. Classes at those CMC locations are expected to be offered Friday as scheduled. For the latest information, call the CMC snow lines at 970-947-8153 (Glenwood and Spring Valley) or 970-625-6990 (Rifle).

After-school activities: due to the inclement weather, all Roaring Fork and Garfield Re-2 after-school and sports activities are canceled Thursday. This includes the Rifle-Steamboat Springs basketball games. Buses will run after school as usual.

As for Friday, the Roaring Fork Schools advise the district will use its established process for making inclement weather decisions to assess conditions in the morning. As outlined in the inclement weather decision-making process, “The Roaring Fork Schools will come to a decision regarding school closures by 5:30 a.m. and notifications to staff and parents will begin afterwards. (In some cases, if a storm is imminent, school may be canceled the night before.)” Any decision to cancel school is based on student safety.



Glenwood Springs Community Center: closed at noon for weather. The senior prom scheduled for tonight was also canceled.

Glenwood Springs Elks Lodge bingo: Canceled tonight because of weather.



Glenwood Springs City Council meeting: Canceled due to weather.

Road closures and traffic advisories

Statewide road closures planned Friday

The Colorado Department of Transportation is planning several highway closures on Friday as a major winter storm continues and avalanche control work is anticipated.

The following news advisory was sent out by CDOT Thursday morning:

•  There will be extended closures tomorrow morning (Friday, Feb. 7) on mountain highways in order to conduct avalanche control work. Due to the severity of the storm, avalanche control work could close roads at any time during the weekend.

• Closures will affect I-70 and several other highways. Motorists should not plan to detour onto Colorado 9 and US 285, as both highways are expected to receive significant snowfall and wind.

•  This is a significant snow event. Motorists need to be prepared for long closures and extreme winter weather. CDOT strongly recommends that travelers in the mountains plan for spending extended amounts of time in their vehicle and to pack whatever they need during that time.
• Commercial vehicles must have chains.

UPDATE: Eastbound state Highway 82 toward Aspen was reopened just after 8:30 a.m. Thursday at mile marker 3.5 (Buffalo Valley) after a wreck earlier in the morning.

A Garfield County emergency alert first went out at 6:50 a.m. about a full closure. Later reports indicated traffic was moving but down to one lane.

Numerous spin-outs were also being reported in the Canyon Creek area of eastbound Interstate 70 around 8:30, backing up traffic in that area, as well.

Garfield County has also issued an accident alert for areas outside of city and town limits. This means Garfield County Sheriff’s officers or the Colorado State Patrol may not be able to respond to the high volume of accidents, and motorists involved in minor, non-injury crashes should move their vehicles to the side of the road and exchange insurance information.

Roads are slick due to a snowstorm that’s moving into the area. The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for today through Friday, with heavy snow expected and hazardous driving conditions.

The Colorado Department of Transportation’s cotrip.org has also issued a heavy snow warning for the Interstate 70 corridor from Dotsero to Denver due to the winter storm warning.

“Heavy snow with strong gusty winds will create blowing and drifting snow producing low visibilities,” according to the advisory. “Travel could be very difficult to impossible with safety closures and avalanche events likely. Wind chill temperatures are forecast well below zero. Travelers and outdoor enthusiasts should be prepared, traveling with emergency kits, and expect possible long road closures in the central and northern mountain areas.”

This is a developing story.


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