A cold winter blast from Canada blew into Colorado overnight, dumping snow on roads slicked by melt from last week’s storm, making travel difficult and sometimes dangerous on local roads and mountain passes this morning.
“All over the metro area and along the I-70 corridor, the roads are snowpacked and icy,” said Colorado State Patrol Sgt. John Hahn.
Traffic was choked on I-70, in either direction, from Idaho Springs to the Eisenhower Tunnel because of icy roads and at least eight accidents, said Hahn. Eastbound I-70 was also closed in Glenwood Springs due to multiple accidents.
It isn’t known yet how seriously hurt the drivers and passengers were in the crashes, Hahn said.
Two people were seriously injured in an accident on I-25 near Trinidad early Sunday, Hahn said. Five inmates from the Boulder County Jail were hurt when a Nissan sedan hit the van they were being transported in early Sunday at Colorado Highway 119 and Hover Road in Longmont.
The driver of the Nissan was transported to a local hospital while the inmates were treated at the scene, Hahn said.
The storm dropped between 2 and 4 inches of snow in the Denver and Boulder area. But between 8 and 16 inches were dumped overnight in the northern and central mountains of Colorado, including the I-70 corridor through Summit and Eagle Counties, according to the National Weather Service.
Areas around Rabbit Ears Pass and Steamboat Springs got closer to 2 feet of snow.
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com.
