Officials closed Interstate 70 both directions between Georgetown and Vail tonight as blowing snow caused near whiteout conditions.
Westbound I-70 was also closed between Floyd Hill and Georgetown.
U.S. 6 over Loveland Pass was closed, as were U.S. 40 over Rabbit Ears and Berthoud Passes.
Interstate 25 was closed north of Wellington much of the evening, but reopened about 10 p.m.
The American Red Cross opened three shelters in the mountains for hundreds of stranded travelers: in Kremmling, Silverthorne and Frisco.
A fourth shelter in Breckenridge was closed shortly after it opened and the travelers there transfered to Silverthorne.
The Colorado State Patrol announced that all vehicular traffic is “strongly discouraged.” A blowing snow advisory is in effect for the foothills and most areas west of I-25 until noon Monday.
“We’re getting snow, but right now the biggest problem is the wind,” CDOT spokeswoman Mindy Crane said. “We’re pretty much down to zero visibility.”
P.J. Bailey, 24, left Breckenridge to head home to Denver around 1 p.m., but nearly four hours later, she was no further than Georgetown.
“I was told it would get better, but a mile east of Georgetown, there were whiteout conditions. You couldn’t even see the front of your car,” she said.
She pulled onto a shoulder for about 15 minutes but finally decided to head back to Georgetown for the night after watching ambulances drive past.
She was searching for a hotel room Sunday evening. The Super 8 Motel was already sold out.
“You should see this town. There’s people stopped everywhere,” she said.
Hunter Miller left his home in Grand Junction around 10:15 a.m. with tickets for a Denver Nuggets game Sunday night, but got caught in stop-and-go ski traffic and snow around Vail Pass. It took about five hours to go the 52 miles between Vail and Georgetown, he said.
He and his wife decided to spend the night in Georgetown.
“The weather was so bad, and I’d been in the car so long,” said Miller, 25. “I didn’t want to drive any more. I didn’t want to risk it.”
In the metro area on Monday, however, commuters should find streets mostly free of snow when they return to work.
And there is little snow expected for the next seven days, according to the National Weather Service.
“There is still a slight chance that we could have a snow shower later this evening,” said Frank Benton, a meteorologist with the NWS in Boulder.
Total December 2007 snowfall for the Denver area has so far been 20.9 inches, making it the sixth-snowiest December since 1882, when records were first kept.
Any flurries tonight are unlikely to raise this month’s total to 21.5 inches, an amount that made December 1987 the fifth-snowiest December on record.
Denver’s all-time snowiest December – and Denver’s snowiest month ever – was in 1913 when the city was socked with 57.4 inches.
Two storms raked Denver last week, one on Christmas Day that dropped 7.8 inches at the official Denver measuring station, and the second on Wednesday and Thursday left 5.7 inches.
The heavy snow resulted in numerous wrecks and United Airlines experienced system-wide flight delays.
United flights are back on track today, said United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy. “We are looking at a normal operating day, the weather across most of our system today is good and we expect to operate a normal schedule.”
Things are running smoothly at Denver International Airport today, said DIA spokesman Jeff Green.
“There aren’t significant delays with airlines. It is a good day for us; we are glad to have the sunshine after all the snow.”
Conditions in the mountains remain hazardous with a snow and blowing snow advisory in effect above 9,000 feet through noon Monday.
High mountain passes will see around 6-14 inches of total snow this weekend.
Aspen, Vail and Snowmass should get another 3 to 5 inches today, and temperatures will hover between 15 and 25 degrees.
Wind gusts in those areas of up to 50 mph could cause wind chill readings as low as 14 degrees below zero.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
