(KMGH) – Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park remains closed Monday after another round of snow and high winds over the weekend left drifts of up to 5 feet in some places.
Rangers closed the road down on Friday afternoon as heavy snow fell and winds gusted up to 50 miles per hour. The park said that temperatures overnight were in the 20s over the weekend.
Snowplows tried to plow Trail Ridge Road again on Sunday and were able to reach Lava Cliffs – just above 12,000 feet in elevation – but had to turn around after encountering drifts of between 1 and 5 feet high and high winds.
Trail Ridge Rd remains closed. Rangers & plows had 1-5ft drifts this weekend & overnight temps in the 20s. Yesterday, plows got to Lava Cliffs (12,080′ elev) but had to turn around in 50 mph winds, heavy snow & major drifting & had to plow their way back down to Forest Canyon. pic.twitter.com/vsVf3Jf1Xx
— RockyNPS (@RockyNPS) June 24, 2019
The road opened just over two weeks ago after crews had to clear feet of snow from the road and Alpine Visitor Center.
But the park said Monday that it is not sure when the road will reopen. People wanting to know if the road is open can call the status line at 970-586-1222. The park said around 12:30 p.m. that the west side of the closure is at Milner Pass, about 16 miles from the Grand Lake entrance. The east side closure is at Rainbow Curve — 12 miles from the east side entrance.
Mount Evans Highway west of Denver was closed through the weekend because of snow and high winds.
More than a foot of snow fell in some parts of Colorado over the weekend. Steamboat Resort picked up 20 inches of snow by Saturday morning, and several National Weather Service spotters reportedupwards of 8 inches throughout north-central Colorado.
The snow-water equivalent snowpack in Colorado was at 4,087% of median as of Monday – near the highest levels in the past 24 years, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Snowpack has not been this robust this late into the season since 2011 and 1995.
But summer could finally reach Colorado this week — with temperatures expected to possibly reach 90 degrees in Denver for the first time in 2019 Thursday or Friday.
Today park snowplow operators from E & W sides of #RMNP reached Alpine Visitor Ctr. Plows encountered up to 8 ft drifts near Gore Range Overlook (elev 12010 ft).
Photos: snowplowing today, Mon, June 24 below Gore Range Overlook + drifted snow in front of the Alpine Visitor Ctr pic.twitter.com/5T2ElCzUG7
— RockyNPS (@RockyNPS) June 24, 2019
