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ENLARGE
Ruth Possehl of Denver tosses a snowball toward her dog, Ella, at City Park on Wednesday.
Facebook reports on snow totals
Chris Willard in Breckenridge: 2" overnight; 4" total
Jean Krak in Park County: Almost 2 feet Wednesday
Molly French Lee: My house in Silver Scheckel has the same wimpy two inches we got two nights ago. How lame.
Kelly Pritchett: The greater downtown Silverthorne area is dry!
Julie Keith in Fort Collins: I'm looking out my window at 20" inches of the white cold stuff and you're welcome to come get it cause I've got to move a one ton print press and me no likey this winter wonderland right now.
Mike Zobbe: "Well, there was about 6-7" of new snow at Francies yesterday. Sounds like the south Ten Mile got a bit more than the rest of the county
Jean Krak in Park County: Almost 2 feet Wednesday
Molly French Lee: My house in Silver Scheckel has the same wimpy two inches we got two nights ago. How lame.
Kelly Pritchett: The greater downtown Silverthorne area is dry!
Julie Keith in Fort Collins: I'm looking out my window at 20" inches of the white cold stuff and you're welcome to come get it cause I've got to move a one ton print press and me no likey this winter wonderland right now.
Mike Zobbe: "Well, there was about 6-7" of new snow at Francies yesterday. Sounds like the south Ten Mile got a bit more than the rest of the county
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ENLARGE
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Carrie Vaccarella with her dog Asher runs during a Fall snow storm down Hilltop Drive in Evergreen Wednesday.
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DENVER — A slow-moving autumn storm in areas of the Rocky Mountains and western plains has dumped as much as 28 inches of snow in Colorado, closed dozens of schools, delayed flights and left behind icy roads for the morning commute Thursday.
So far, though, the storm has largely skirted the Summit County area. Arapahoe Basin claimed 2 inches of new snow this morning. In Frisco, roads were largely dry early Thursday. Over the Divide, Loveland Ski Area reported 3 new inches of snow.
The storm spread a blanket of white from northern Utah's Wasatch Front to western Nebraska's northern border with South Dakota. Forecasters said some areas high in the Rocky Mountains could have 4 feet of snow by the time the storm moved out later Thursday.
It was the biggest October snowmaker in the Denver area since 1997, said Byron Louis, a National Weather Service hydrologist in Boulder, Colo.
"The plows are out, but the roads are kind of icy and snowpacked," said Ryan Drake, traffic operations specialist for the Colorado Department of Transportation. "Be patient and take your time."
Where the snow was falling, schools took action Wednesday. Students were sent home early from suburban Denver to western Nebraska. College closures included the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado State University in Fort Collins and Chadron State College's campuses in Nebraska. At least three high school football playoff games set for Thursday in Nebraska were postponed.
Air travelers had to change plans, too. Denver International Airport spokeswoman Erica Gingerich said some flights were delayed as visibility fell to a quarter mile in heavy snow Wednesday afternoon. The airport warned of more delays, saying it would see a foot of snow by Thursday afternoon.
On the roads, conditions were worse. Multicar pileups were reported in Colorado and Wyoming, with countless fender-benders across the region. The Utah Highway Patrol reported 51 crashes as the storm moved through. Police departments across Colorado started asking drivers in accidents without injuries to just exchange information and report the accidents to police later.
However, no traffic deaths were reported. Myriad state highways in the region were closed, along with parts of Interstate 80 in Wyoming.
Wyoming officials said they'd had reports of about 70 crashes, most of them on I-80, before deciding to close the road.
"People are just not slowing down enough," Wyoming Department of Transportation spokesman Bruce Burrows said.
Whiteout conditions were predicted Thursday for the plains areas of eastern Colorado and Wyoming and western Nebraska.
Winds were a concern farther west, too.
Winds gusting through Southern California forced a commuter train line to shut down and knocked a tree onto a car, but no serious injuries have been reported.
The National Weather Service warned of the possibility of further gusts up to 50 mph through Thursday morning in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. Fire danger warnings were up in some areas.
Back in Wyoming, the storm brought some big rig truckers to a halt.
"The smart thing is to just shut it down and call it a day," said Donnel Farrow of Willingboro, N.J. Farrow was hauling mail from Pennsylvania to Salt Lake City but pulled over his rig at a truck stop Wednesday just east of Cheyenne, Wyo., after a rough drive across Nebraska.
So far, though, the storm has largely skirted the Summit County area. Arapahoe Basin claimed 2 inches of new snow this morning. In Frisco, roads were largely dry early Thursday. Over the Divide, Loveland Ski Area reported 3 new inches of snow.
The storm spread a blanket of white from northern Utah's Wasatch Front to western Nebraska's northern border with South Dakota. Forecasters said some areas high in the Rocky Mountains could have 4 feet of snow by the time the storm moved out later Thursday.
It was the biggest October snowmaker in the Denver area since 1997, said Byron Louis, a National Weather Service hydrologist in Boulder, Colo.
"The plows are out, but the roads are kind of icy and snowpacked," said Ryan Drake, traffic operations specialist for the Colorado Department of Transportation. "Be patient and take your time."
Where the snow was falling, schools took action Wednesday. Students were sent home early from suburban Denver to western Nebraska. College closures included the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado State University in Fort Collins and Chadron State College's campuses in Nebraska. At least three high school football playoff games set for Thursday in Nebraska were postponed.
Air travelers had to change plans, too. Denver International Airport spokeswoman Erica Gingerich said some flights were delayed as visibility fell to a quarter mile in heavy snow Wednesday afternoon. The airport warned of more delays, saying it would see a foot of snow by Thursday afternoon.
On the roads, conditions were worse. Multicar pileups were reported in Colorado and Wyoming, with countless fender-benders across the region. The Utah Highway Patrol reported 51 crashes as the storm moved through. Police departments across Colorado started asking drivers in accidents without injuries to just exchange information and report the accidents to police later.
However, no traffic deaths were reported. Myriad state highways in the region were closed, along with parts of Interstate 80 in Wyoming.
Wyoming officials said they'd had reports of about 70 crashes, most of them on I-80, before deciding to close the road.
"People are just not slowing down enough," Wyoming Department of Transportation spokesman Bruce Burrows said.
Whiteout conditions were predicted Thursday for the plains areas of eastern Colorado and Wyoming and western Nebraska.
Winds were a concern farther west, too.
Winds gusting through Southern California forced a commuter train line to shut down and knocked a tree onto a car, but no serious injuries have been reported.
The National Weather Service warned of the possibility of further gusts up to 50 mph through Thursday morning in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. Fire danger warnings were up in some areas.
Back in Wyoming, the storm brought some big rig truckers to a halt.
"The smart thing is to just shut it down and call it a day," said Donnel Farrow of Willingboro, N.J. Farrow was hauling mail from Pennsylvania to Salt Lake City but pulled over his rig at a truck stop Wednesday just east of Cheyenne, Wyo., after a rough drive across Nebraska.
Snow not over yet for Front Range
Snow continues to fall along the Front Range this morning and forecasters expect the storm to linger for most of the day as the urban corridor begins to dig out from under the first major storm of the season.
Traffic is moving throughout most of the metro area, but the northbound lanes of I-25 north from Wellington to the Wyoming state line remain closed, and Loveland Pass is closed so crews can work on avalanche mitigation. "The biggest concern in the metro area are the bridges, the on-ramps and the off-ramps. It is still icy," said Joe Tucker, a spokesman with the Colorado Department of Transportation. "Drivers really need to slow down, the conditions are not good for going fast out there." A winter storm warning posted by the National Weather Service remains in effect this morning and the foothills in Boulder and Jefferson counties could see steady snow falls today at a rate of about one inch per hour, the weather service reports. Snow continues this morning at Denver International Airport and travelers should expect delays, and some cancelations, today. Operations at the airport are limited, according to a media release from Frontier Airlines, and some flights are being canceled. If possible, travelers should call their airline or check airline websites before heading out to the airport. Delays today could be up to three hours, the release said. —The Denver Post Read more at http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13668073 |
