Another spring storm threatens Southwest Colorado with rain, snow, lightning

Another spring system was poised to turn Southwest Colorado from shoulder-season hiking weather into a mix of wet roads, slick passes and unsettled mountain travel just days after the San Juan Mountains picked up a fresh round of heavy snow. The first wave was expected Friday night and Saturday, with rain and thunderstorms, then a colder system was set to arrive Monday night and last into early Wednesday, bringing the season’s first lightning risk and enough mountain snow to make high routes tricky again.

That matters most above town. Meteorologist Lucas Boyer said the setup could drop accumulating snow in the mountains, enough for slick conditions over high passes and light buildup on mountain routes. After a spring storm Tuesday and Wednesday already dumped 1 to 2 feet across the San Juan Mountains, the ground is primed for quick changes: Silverton picked up about 17 inches, Wolf Creek Pass 19 inches and Telluride 11 inches, while Durango logged more than eight-tenths of an inch of precipitation.

For hikers, campers and riders, the big divide is elevation. Lower valleys may see mostly rain, but the high country can still flip back to winter fast, especially on exposed ridgelines and along the approaches to passes. The National Weather Service in Grand Junction has warned that spring snowmelt can rapidly raise rivers and streams, lightning becomes more common over the mountains, and flash floods can develop quickly from heavy rainfall, dam failures, rapid snowmelt or ice jams.

That combination is a problem for more than one kind of outing. Trail days can turn into mud-slogging detours, gravel roads can go sloppy, and a calm afternoon in the hills can become a lightning decision point in minutes. The weather pattern also puts early-season anglers on notice, since runoff and rising water can change stream conditions fast. Even a modest storm can make the difference between a safe approach and a stranded vehicle on a high pass.

San Juan National Forest officials were already urging outdoor recreators to stay off muddy roads and trails until they dried out. Many routes in the high country remained muddy or snowy, and lower-elevation roads on the Columbine Ranger District were scheduled to open May 1, with higher-elevation and backcountry routes not expected to open until June 1 or later, depending on conditions. The Forest Service recommended low- and mid-elevation trails, gravel roads and paved paths that had already dried out. For anyone headed into the San Juans over the next several days, the smartest move was to treat the mountains like they were still in winter, because in places like Wolf Creek Pass and Silverton, they still were.