Presidents Day Travel Advisory: Snow could complicate heavy traffic on I-70 between Summit County and the Front Range, analysis shows.

Anyone driving westbound to the ski areas on Interstate 70 on Friday should remember to take a deep breath as they drive into Summit County for the holiday weekend.

According to historical data provided by the Colorado Department of Transportation, Presidents’ Day is consistently ranked as the three busiest weekends of the winter season, behind New Year’s Eve and Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.

Westbound commuters can expect up to 23% more traffic this Friday, according to a comparison of 2022 CDOT data released a week ago and the week of Presidents’ Day. Data for this story was taken from a traffic counter at the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels.

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If tourism trends continue, this year’s Presidents Day weekend could surpass last year’s total as reservations at mountain destinations rose 10% year-over-year in January, according to a report by Destimetrix, a firm that tracks resort lodging performance. Destinations.

According to the latest reports for Summit County, reservations for the area’s Christmas holiday season remain about the same year-over-year, so travelers can expect this year’s numbers to equal or exceed last year’s figures.

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A multi-day snowstorm expected Sunday through Friday, Feb. 24 could complicate travel plans as vacationers head to the slopes from Denver International Airport.

What day should you drive?

For those traveling westbound, Friday will see the most traffic, followed by Saturday, Sunday and then Monday. In the year In 2022, 31,816 cars were counted on Friday, 25,420 were counted on Saturday, 22,577 were counted on Sunday and 19,342 were counted on Monday, according to data from the tunnel to the west border.

As for eastbound traffic, the 2022 data shows that Sunday had the heaviest traffic, followed by Monday, Saturday and Friday. In the year In 2022, 26,433 people drove on Sunday, 25,907 drove on Monday, 22,537 drove on Saturday and 20,941 drove on Friday, according to Eastbound data.

How many hours a day should you drive?

Generally, the best times to travel on I-70 are before 10 a.m. and after 6 p.m., but a review of last year’s holiday traffic volume shows that this peak traffic window is significantly longer for westbound traffic on Friday.

Last year, the traffic count doubled between 6am and 7am on the Friday before the holiday, from 929 cars per hour to 2,000. The number of trips stayed around 2,000 or more till 5pm and below 1,000 till 9pm.

By comparison, westbound trip counts this year at 6 a.m. on the Friday before Christmas fell below 1,000 vehicles per hour and no more than 2,000.

In the year In 2022, westbound traffic should not exceed 2,000 vehicles per hour on Presidents Day weekend, but a similar trend was observed between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m., when traffic increased from 559 vehicles per hour to 1,990 vehicles per hour. Traffic, which dropped below the 1,000 vehicle-per-hour mark around 6 a.m. Sunday, showed similar trends, and overall westbound travel on Monday dropped back to normal levels.

For eastbound travel, the best time to drive on Monday is before 7am and after 1pm as the total traffic can be over 1,000 cars per hour from 1am to 6pm. Overall, there were more than 1,000 vehicles per hour from 8 am to 10 pm, more than 1,000 from 9 am to 6 pm on Saturday and Friday, and more than 2,000 from 2-4 pm.

What about the weather?

According to OpenSnow.com, a series of storm systems is expected to hit Colorado on Sunday and through Friday, February 24. Snow forecasters say an inch or two could fall at any time. Storms in the system may strengthen or weaken before they reach Summit County, so totals could vary greatly from initial reports.

“All of these storms are too far away to go into detail at this time,” Joel Gratz, founder of OpenSnow and meteorologist, wrote in Wednesday’s report.

Also, the amount of snow often increases at high altitudes such as mountain passes. Vail Pass, Hoosier Pass and the tunnels along the Continental Divide on I-70 could see blowing snow, high winds and snow-covered pavement depending on the strength of the storm.

For the latest travel updates, interstate closures and road conditions, visit CoTrip.org.