San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
POTENTIALLY HISTORIC STORM BEARS DOWN ON COLO., WYO.
As much as 2 feet of snow expected in Denver, 4 feet in the surrounding foothills; nearly 2K flights canceled
A major winter storm began to unload potentially historic amounts of snow, the most in years in some areas, in parts of Colorado, Wyoming and western Nebraska Saturday, and is expected to last through today.
Before the wintry onslaught is over, some locations in the Colorado foothills and eastern Rockies might end up with as much as four feet of snow. Some cities, particularly Cheyenne, Wyo., could challenge all-time snowfall records.
Howling winds were expected to bring the potential for blizzard conditions across parts of the region. Blizzard warnings are in effect for a large portion of southeastern Wyoming for this reason. Gusts of 35 to 60 mph were expected to cause blowing and drifting of the snow, particularly Saturday night and today, as well as whiteout conditions.
Power outages and roof collapses are also possible in some areas because of the heavy, wet nature of the predicted snowfall.
Winter storm warnings are in effect in Denver, Boulder and Fort Collins where the National Weather Service predicts 12 to 24 inches of snow. In Cheyenne, Wyo., 15 to 34 inches of snow is forecast. If Cheyenne’s snowfall exceeds 25.6 inches over three days, it would beat the previous record from a single storm, set in 1979.
The storm threat prompted the cancellation of nearly 2,000 flights at Denver International Airport. Denver International had a busy morning Saturday with passengers trying to beat the storm, but about 750 flights later in the day were canceled, airport spokeswoman Emily Williams said. Just about all of today’s flights had been canceled as well — nearly 1,300.
Rain with embedded bursts of snow had already snuck into southeastern Colorado from eastern New Mexico early Saturday morning. Another arcing band of snow was knocking on Colorado’s doorstep from the west. Some of the snow could be accompanied by lightning and thunder. While the nowfall started off light on Saturday, it was expected to pick up as temperatures plummeted overnight.
While up to two feet of snow is forecast for Denver, four feet could fall in the foothills to its west. While spring weather with milder temperatures has been breaking out in much of the country, snow in Denver during March is typical for this region. However, this storm rates on the high end of the severity scale.
Last month, Denver saw its biggest snowstorm of the season so far with some metro areas receiving up to 14 inches of snow, according to The Denver Post. It was also the biggest snowstorm the city had seen since April 2016, when over a foot of snow fell. In general, March is the city’s snowiest month.
On Friday, officials across the region were asking residents to prepare by stocking up on food, water and other supplies, and then staying home.
“If you can stay safe in your home or in another location, especially during the peak of this storm, please do so,” Shoshana Lew, executive director of the Colorado Department of Transportation, said in a news conference. “It gives our crews greater ability to do their jobs, keep essential travel possible for as long as possible and return our state roadways to normal as safely and as quickly as possible.”
The Colorado Department of Transportation warned that road closures are highly likely.
Gov. Jared Polis, during a news conference Friday, said about 50 members of the National Guard would be available for search and rescue, however, he urged people not to venture out.
“I urge you to stay home if it’s going to snow hard in your area,” he said on Twitter.