DENVER—Dry air over the Front Range Saturday delayed the bulk of the storm that hit the mountains, lowering the amount of snow expected in the Denver area.
More than a foot of snow fell in parts of the mountains and several inches piled up in some of the foothills. The National Weather Service received a report of nearly 9 inches of snow in Jamestown, west of Boulder.
Parts of Larimer County in northern Colorado reported from 4 to 5 inches of snow.
An inch to 2 inches fell in the metro area by Saturday morning. The Denver was expected to get up to 5 inches of snow through the day, down from the 5 to 10 inches the storm was expected to bring over night.
Dry air above the Front Range prevented significant snow from falling, said Bob Koopmeiners of the National Weather Service.
“But this storm is by no means over at all,” Koopmeiners said. “The storm on the satellite is still pretty impressive.”
Heavy snow was expected in southern Wyoming. The northbound lanes of Interstate 25 were closed at Wellington, about 65 miles north of Denver and close to the Wyoming line because of blowing snow and poor visibility.
Also closed were U.S. 85 from Ault to Wyoming. U.S. 287 from Ted’s Place, north of Fort Collins, to the Wyoming line was closed until late morning.
Snow was falling on the eastern plains and the wind “was starting to howl,” Koopmeiners said, prompting blizzard warnings.
State Trooper Gilbert Mares said there were several crashes and cars sliding off Interstate 70 east of Denver, but no serious injuries. He said blowing snow had cut visibility.
The Weld County sheriff’s office reported several accidents on Interstate 76 in the Keensesburg and Hudson areas.
United and Frontier airlines canceled some of Saturday’s flights in preparation for the storm. Airport officials said 300 pieces of equipment were ready to go in case of problems, but operations were normal at Denver International Airport Saturday morning.
A blizzard warning was in effect for parts of the eastern plains through Sunday morning. Areas affected included Bennett, Byers, Fort Morgan and Holyoke. Forecasts called for wind gusts of 50 mph and from 4 to 8 inches of snow.
The snowstorm was Colorado’s third in less than two weeks. In late March, a fast-moving snowmaker canceled hundreds of flights at Denver International Airport. Another storm last week caused traffic pileups resulting in three deaths.
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Information from: The Denver Post,
