UPDATE: Interstate 70 is now open from Utah to Kansas, and Highway 91 has reopened near Copper Mountain. Officials are asking drivers to be “extremely cautious” if you need to drive in the mountains tonight.
DENVER – Several avalanches were reported Thursday across Colorado, as the mountains remain under an extreme avalanche risk.
CDOT says Highway 91 will remain closed through the night after a slide in an area that has never run before. That avalanche was 100 yards wide and up to 15 feet deep, and buried four cars. CDOT says there were no injuries in that slide.
The Colorado Avalanche Information Center says there has been at least one slide-related death each year between 1951 and 2016, except in 1977 and 1980.
The deadliest year was 1993, when 12 deaths were recorded. More recently there were five deaths in 2016. That’s the last year with official numbers from CAIC.
Since record-keeping began there have been more than 250 deaths. Pitkin County has seen the most avalanche deaths, with 45 recorded. Summit County, where Copper Mountain and A-Basin are located, has seen 39.
