The season’s first snow covered the state Tuesday night, closing highways and causing accidents that may include a fatal wreck in Denver.
Denver police are looking into what role the weather played in a crash at East Hampden Avenue and South Colorado Boulevard.
A 17-year-old driver lost control going westbound on Hampden. The accident seriously injured the driver and killed his 16-year-old passenger, police said.
“We are looking at many factors, including speed and weather,” said Sonny Jackson, Denver police spokesman.
Ron Watkins, a Colorado State Patrol master trooper, said there were many accidents Tuesday afternoon and evening. He said there were no serious injuries reported on the interstates as a result of the snowfall.
“Most accidents are just the fender- bender types,” Watkins said.
Stacy Stegman, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Transportation, said weather closed Interstate 70 in both directions around Georgetown for several hours Tuesday afternoon. Interstate 70 eastbound at Smith Road also was closed for an hour after a tractor-trailer crash, Stegman said.
Denver police reported about 30 accidents in the Denver metro area Tuesday.
National Weather Service forecaster Mike Baker said he is expecting sporadic snow overnight in most areas of the state, although the bulk of the snow fell before 7 p.m.
In Gilpin and Boulder counties, most of the snow was expected to accumulate Tuesday night and into this morning, Baker said.
Baker said Gilpin County should expect 10 inches to a foot of snowfall and that Boulder County should expect 6 to 10 inches to fall before morning.
The metro area was expected to receive 1 to 3 inches of snow by Tuesday night, Baker said.
About 1,500 Xcel Energy customers lost power because of the storm in the north metro area. Power was restored to all but 600 Tuesday night, with the rest expected to be up by this morning, according to a spokesman.
Staff writer Karissa Marcum can be reached at 303-954-1858 or kmarcum@denverpost.com.
