The National Weather Service is forecasting a blustery beginning to the week, with a partly sunny Tuesday – two days after the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year – looking a little temperamental.
Tuesday should be sunny with a high near 31, and it is expected to be windy, with gusts around 20 mph.
Christmas Eve will see plenty of sunshine, a high near 38, and Christmas Day, a slight chance of snow after 11 a.m., with highs in the low 40s. For the record, in 2005, Christmas Day hit a high of 37 degrees. In 1990, the low was 1.
Friday looks sunny, high near 30.
Holiday skiers and riders hit the slopes with a gusto, as the first week of winter has provided a better-late-than-never scenario for the local ski areas.
Telluride received 2 feet of snow in the past week, bringing the ski area up to speed with 17 of 18 lifts running over a 36-inch base.
Wolf Creek is 70 percent open, including coveted terrain such as Alberta Peak, the Knife Ridge and Horseshoe Bowl. With a 30-inch base, the 75-year-old ski area has received 4 inches of new snow. Up to 6 inches of accumulation was possible by Monday night.
Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort opened lifts 3 and 5 this weekend, making more than half the mountain open for skiing. It plans to open Lift 8 on Tuesday.
A winter weather advisory and hazardous weather outlook was in effect until 6 p.m. Monday for much of the San Juan Mountains, and a storm could leave as much as 10 inches of new snow on Purgatory’s slopes by Tuesday morning.