A winter weather advisory remained in effect for Southwest Colorado’s mountains until noon Monday, with scattered snow showers at lower elevations throughout the morning.
A wind advisory for the area expired Sunday night, but 20-25 mph winds are expected to continue Monday, with gusts reaching 45 mph.
Less than an inch of snow was expected in the Cortez area. Scattered showers were expected before noon Monday, followed by patches of blowing snow into the afternoon.
Sunny or mostly sunny skies were expected to return Tuesday through Sunday. Temperatures are expected to rise from a high of 42 on Tuesday to a high of 58 on Friday.
Four to 8 inches is expected for elevations above 8,500 feet including the towns of Rico, Telluride, Hesperus, Silverton and Ouray.
Drivers on Monday morning encountered slick, icy roads, skies cleared and the thaw began.
In Egnar, Colorado, a 31-year-old Florida man was found early Monday morning near the Dolores River after a motorcycle crash and a four-hour search involving multiple law enforcement agencies, according the San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office. The motorcyclist spend the night in blizzard conditions outside Egnar, about 50 miles northwest of Cortez. He was found about 6:47 a.m.
San Miguel County Dispatchers received a call at 2:30 a.m. reporting a crashed motorcycle and blood, but no driver, on the side of the road on Colorado Highway 141 about 7 miles north of Egnar. The call prompted an extensive overnight search for him in blizzard conditions Monday near
Chain laws were in effect for five major passes in the region, including Lizard Head, Red Mountain, Coal Bank, Molas and Wolf Creek.
