Vail Pass Weather & Road Conditions

No full closures are reported on Vail Pass as of Sep 14, 2026 8:40 PM MDT, and no lane closures or roadworks either. Always check with the responsible state DOT before setting off.

Vail Pass Chain Control & Traction Requirements

Chain and traction requirements on Vail Pass are set by the state highway authority, and they are imposed and lifted through the day as a storm moves through. This page does not carry them — check cotrip.org ↗ before you set off.

What this page can tell you is the surface at the summit, from radar and surface analysis: currently dry, with the road surface estimated at 51°F. The road surface figure is an estimate derived from air temperature, not a measurement — bridges and overpasses run colder than the number shown.

Vail Pass Weather Forecast: Next 6 Days

At the summit, 10,662 ft. Each day shows its warmest and coldest hour, and the worst driving conditions forecast anywhere in it — not the average, because the hour that closes a pass is the one worth knowing about.

1. Rest of today Sep 14

   

   43°F 41°F

   Dry

   Wind to 3 mph

2. Tue Sep 15

   

   61°F 40°F

   Wet worst around 7 PM

   Wind to 15 mph
   0.05 in precipitation

3. Wed Sep 16

   

   58°F 39°F

   Wet worst around 1 PM

   Wind to 12 mph
   0.12 in precipitation

4. Thu Sep 17

   

   62°F 37°F

   Wet worst around 2 PM

   Wind to 13 mph
   0.09 in precipitation

5. Fri Sep 18

   

   58°F 38°F

   Wet worst around 1 PM

   Wind to 11 mph
   0.11 in precipitation

6. Sat Sep 19

   

   58°F 37°F

   Ice worst around 6 AM

   Wind to 10 mph
   0.03 in precipitation

Forecast, not a measurement — from the same weather service that draws this page's radar and road colors, model run 8 hours ago. Days run on Mountain time, the clock the pass keeps — not the reader's.

Related Roads

Vail Pass Road Weather FAQ

Is Vail Pass open right now?

No full closures are reported on Vail Pass. No lane closures or roadworks are reported either.

What are Vail Pass road conditions today?

The map on this page colors the route along Vail Pass by what is on the pavement right now — dry, wet, slush, snow or ice — from radar and surface data, last updated Sep 14, 2026 8:40 PM MDT. Right now temperatures run from 52°F to 61°F and the strongest wind is 10 mph.

Do I need chains on Vail Pass today?

Chain and traction requirements are set by the state highway authority and change through the day, so check them directly before you set off at cotrip.org. This page does not carry them. What this page can tell you is that the surface at the summit is dry, and the road surface is estimated at 51°F.

What is the weather forecast for Vail Pass this week?

At the summit, Sep 14 to Sep 19: highs 43-62°F, lows 37-41°F. Snow or ice is forecast on the road Sat. It is a forecast rather than a measurement, and the later days are less certain than the earlier ones.

How often are Vail Pass road conditions updated?

The road surface and weather layers are rebuilt whenever this page is opened with data more than ten minutes old, and refreshed on a schedule in between, so nothing here is more than about two hours old even on a road nobody has looked at. Closures and road blocks are re-imported from the state 511 feeds every fifteen minutes, and the written state-by-state summaries are refreshed daily. Every section on this page carries the time its data was fetched.