The Denver area’s first winter storm of the year brought a one-two punch to the region today with driving snow followed by frigid temperatures in the 20s.
The heavy, wet snow, driven by high winds, brought down tree limbs and power lines and caused power outages.
The storm was particularly intense in the south metro area with snowfalls in the 7-inch range.
By this afternoon, Centennial had received 7.5 inches; a location four miles east of Parker, 7.3 inches; a mile southwest of Lone Tree, 6.9 inches; a mile north of Castle Rock, 7.0 inches.
Downtown Denver, which saw steady snow from about 7:30 a.m. until about 2 p.m., picked up only half-an-inch of accumulation.
At one point, about 1:40 p.m. 4,570 customers in the Denver metro area had no power, according to Ethnie Groves, spokesperson for Xcel Energy.
By 4 p.m., power had been restored to all but 1,400 customers.
Xcel has 14 crews out restoring the power throughout the day assisted by another 23 tree trimming crews, Groves said.
Early today, the Denver Fire Department was inundated with calls.
“We are getting hammered with reports of trees and wires down,” a Denver Fire Department dispatcher said. “Lots of people are calling. We’ve had several where the wires fell into trees and the trees caught fire.”
Groves said the problems were caused by snow in the trees.
“We see this because of the leaves on the trees. The snow weighs the branches down,” she said.
By 4 p.m., the National Weather Service had issued a freeze warning for much of the Front Range – including Denver, Castle Rock and Fort Collins – saying temperatures would drop to the lower to mid 20s.
The overnight low in Denver was expected to be 22.
“This will be the first widespread freeze across northeastern Colorado,” the warning said. “These conditions will kill crops and other sensitive outdoor vegetation. If possible move plants indoors to protect them from the cold. Disconnect hoses and drain sprinkler pipes to prevent damage.”
The National Weather Service had predicted 1-to-3 inches of snow in the Denver metropolitan area.
Forecasters predicted higher amounts in the foothills and northern and central mountains.
Jim Kalina, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said the evening game between the Broncos and Steelers would be chilly, with the temperature dropping to 30 by the 4th quarter and a northerly wind of 10 -to -15 mph dropping the wind chill to the mid 20s.
Kalina said the snow was caused by an extensive low pressure trough that extends from northern New Mexico into the Dakotas as well as a cold front that came through last night.
At Denver International Airport, spokesman Steve Snyder said that although snow fell their steadily in the late morning, planes – which were being de-iced – were departing and landing on time. Snyder also said that Pena Boulevard was passable to the airport.
DIA kept snow removal crews at the scene throughout the day.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
