EAGLE COUNTY — Following a heavy overnight storm that dropped a foot of snow on Beaver Creek, the National Weather Service in Grand Junction issued a winter storm watch for Eagle County Thursday afternoon, signaling a wintry end to 2022.

The winter storm warning will be in effect through Monday, and travelers can expect variable to hazardous conditions throughout.

“Travel could be very difficult to impossible. Patchy blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility, especially on ridge tops,” according to the National Weather Service. Expect closures and delays along the I-70 corridor and up at Vail Pass, as well as on highways 6 and 24.

For the locals and visitors already here, ski conditions will be spoiling the powderhounds for the rest of the year. OpenSnow.com predicts 19 inches of additional accumulation for Vail and Beaver Creek over the next five days. “The next storm will bring snow from Friday afternoon through Saturday evening. This storm will be warm with a lot of moisture, so we could see a lot of thicker, dense snow,” founding meteorologist Joel Gratz wrote on his blog. “Then from Sunday night through Tuesday, another storm will bring 8-16 inches of snow.”

Along with the snow comes more terrain for resort enthusiasts to enjoy. Beaver Creek now has 153 of 167 trails open and 25 of 25 lifts, according to EpicMix, meaning over 90% of the resort’s terrain is now open. Royal Elk Glade, Stone Creek Chutes and more are among the remaining 10 percent.

While Vail Mountain did not report as much snowfall in the latest storm, the strong start to winter has also helped with terrain openings. The High Noon Express chairlift (No. 5) and the new 6-seat chairlift in Game Creek Bowl are now open for the season, and, perhaps most importantly, the Dawg Haus has returned to Blue Sky Basin with full service for the first time since 2019-20.

This story is from VailDaily.com.