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It was absolutely necessary. The highway closed not far from us. We were having ground and snow blizzards with white out conditions. That highway is all switch backs and very steep. Going up is scary coming down in bad weather is frightening beyond belief. Plus, they were afraid of avalanches. The high winds with recent snow ontop of icy snow are prime danger for avalances.

There were over 4 major highways closed at certain points when I went to bed last night and 4 or 5 mountain passes which are above timber line and have razor curves and switch backs. Couple that with no guard rails, being above timberline and white outs, that is a recipe for disaster. The weather is finally calming down here. We are still getting high winds which should end in a few hours. But the blowing snow tonight and high winds were like a snow hurricane. It is biting miserable cold to boot.

I 70 has reopened in both directions but I myself would not want to travel that highway west or east tonight with these very high winds. 70 was closed for 20 hours.

Driving home tonight my car was being blown from side to side and at times I was battling white out conditions. Not fun.

The officials here are very used to doing this and do aid anyone in distress. They open shelters and they try to get everyone off the highway when they do this. Of course there are always those that just ignore the closures and get themselves in a mess.

They probably saved lives by doing this last night. It was just not a night to be on these mountain highways.

<blockquote data-quote="BostonsJ" data-source="post: 1169973">It was absolutely necessary. The highway closed not far from us.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; We were having ground and snow blizzards with white out conditions.&nbsp; That highway is all switch backs and very steep.&nbsp; Going up is scary coming down in bad weather is frightening beyond belief.&nbsp; Plus, they were afraid of avalanches.&nbsp; The high winds with recent snow ontop of icy snow are prime danger for avalances. &nbsp;There were over 4 major highways closed at certain points when I went to bed last night and 4 or 5 mountain passes which are above timber line and have razor curves and switch backs.&nbsp; Couple that with no guard rails, being above timberline and white outs,&nbsp; that is a recipe for disaster.&nbsp;&nbsp; The weather is finally calming down here.&nbsp; We are still getting high winds which should end in a few hours.&nbsp; But the blowing snow tonight and high winds were like a snow hurricane.&nbsp; It is biting miserable cold to boot.&nbsp; I 70 has reopened in both directions but I myself would not want to travel that highway west or east tonight with these very high winds. 70 was closed for 20 hours.&nbsp; Driving home tonight my car was being blown from side to side and at times I was battling white out conditions.&nbsp; Not fun.The officials here are very used to doing this and do aid anyone in distress.&nbsp; They open shelters and they try to get everyone off the highway when they do this.&nbsp; Of course there are always those that just ignore the closures and get themselves in a mess.They probably saved lives by doing this last night.&nbsp; It was just not a night to be on these mountain highways.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="BostonsJ, post: 1169973"] It was absolutely necessary. The highway closed not far from us. We were having ground and snow blizzards with white out conditions. That highway is all switch backs and very steep. Going up is scary coming down in bad weather is frightening beyond belief. Plus, they were afraid of avalanches. The high winds with recent snow ontop of icy snow are prime danger for avalances. There were over 4 major highways closed at certain points when I went to bed last night and 4 or 5 mountain passes which are above timber line and have razor curves and switch backs. Couple that with no guard rails, being above timberline and white outs, that is a recipe for disaster. The weather is finally calming down here. We are still getting high winds which should end in a few hours. But the blowing snow tonight and high winds were like a snow hurricane. It is biting miserable cold to boot. I 70 has reopened in both directions but I myself would not want to travel that highway west or east tonight with these very high winds. 70 was closed for 20 hours. Driving home tonight my car was being blown from side to side and at times I was battling white out conditions. Not fun. The officials here are very used to doing this and do aid anyone in distress. They open shelters and they try to get everyone off the highway when they do this. Of course there are always those that just ignore the closures and get themselves in a mess. They probably saved lives by doing this last night. It was just not a night to be on these mountain highways. [/QUOTE]