DENVER - With more than a foot of snow already on the ground in many parts of metropolitan Denver, the snow just kept falling Thursday morning. It promised to be the biggest October system to hit Colorado in 12 years.
Winds were gusty and temperatures dropped into the single digits when you factored wind chill Thursday morning.
Pinecliffe in Jefferson County had 38" of snow as of 6:00 a.m. Thursday. Boulder had 20", and downtown Denver had 14".
Some places in the mountains west of Denver could see four feet before the storm's end. The heaviest snowfall was starting to move east, and was forecast to affect the eastern plains of Colorado later Thursday.
The storm should begin winding down Thursday afternoon along the Front Range, and move out during the evening hours. Expect an additional 3-5" in metro Denver, 5-10" in the Foothills, and 6-12" on the eastern plains before it's all done.
Interstate 25, Interstate 70 and other major roads have been plowed, but remain snow-packed and slick Thursday. Neighborhood streets are covered in deep snow. For anyone who has to get out and drive, conditions were much worse Thursday morning than Wednesday morning.
Check traffic and road cameras here.
Large school districts, private schools, and many businesses closed Thursday, as residents waited for the slow-moving storm to move out. A Winter Storm Warning remained in effect until 6:00 p.m. Thursday.
School and Business Closings
With the kids out of school, many families headed to the sledding hill off Lincoln in Lone Tree Wednesday. Tracy Nearman was there with her kids. She was amazed by all this snow before Halloween.
"It's October! It's completely unexpected, I just raked my leaves!." she said.
Heavy snow was blamed for a multicar pileup on U.S. Highway 6 in Denver, and the weather closed two northern Colorado highways near Wyoming. The interstates remained open, with some closures on mountain passes.
Literally hundreds of schools and businesses closed for Thursday as well.
Xcel Energy reported no major power outages across the region, with the only exception of Boulder where 1900 customers lost power for less than an hour when a tree limb fell on a power line
Denver International Airport reported relatively few weather-related delays and cancelations. Airport officials said the snow was falling at a manageable rate, allowing plows to stay ahead of the storm. Travelers were urged to check their flight status before driving to the airport Thursday.
CDOT Road Conditions
Snowfall measurements as of midnight.:
- Pinecliffe - 38"
- Nederland - 30"
- Evergreen - 22"
- Golden - 30.5"
- Broomfield - 14.5"
- Genesee - 27.8"
- Fairplay - 14"
- Evergreen - 20.3"
- Denver - 14"
