Snow began falling along the Front Range Thursday morning, creating hazardous conditions that likely led to several traffic accidents and two fatalities.
Stretches of I-70 were closed west of Denver by wintry weather and traffic accidents, including a 15-vehicle pileup in the westbound lanes of the highway on Floyd Hill in Clear Creek County.
The multi-vehicle crash closed lanes in both directions just before 3 p.m. and detours were set up.
Eight of the vehicles involved in the incident had to be towed, two drivers were injured, and three drivers ticketed, according to the Colorado State Patrol. Further details on injuries were not released.
Elsewhere on the highway, eastbound lanes were also closed down at Silverthorne because of a crash at the Eisenhower Tunnel at about the same time as the Floyd Hill crash.
Westbound lanes of I-70 west of Denver were reopened in entirety, from Golden to Utah, shortly after 4 p.m,, according to the Colorado State Patrol. Some various eastbound closures still lingered west of the Eisenhower Tunnel, with a couple of trouble spots around Vail Pass.
Eastbound lanes closed by the afternoon accidents were cleared out and reopened at about 6 p.m., the state patrol said.
Snow lingered in the Denver area into the night, with heavier amounts falling on the south end of the city. Traffic was heavy and backed up on I-25 south of Denver, with delays and collisions reported throughout the metro area.
The official snowfall accumulation, measured at Denver International Airport, for the city was 0.7 inches as of 5 p.m., said Natalie Gusack, a meteorologist and spokeswoman with the National Weather Service. It was the first measurable amount of the 2016-17 season.
Earlier in the day, two people were killed and a tanker-trailer rolled into a ditch and spilled fuel Thursday in three separate crashes during the snowy day, authorities say.
Two of the accidents triggered road closures. Although it was snowing during each of the accidents, authorities are not saying whether bad weather was responsible for any of them.
The ramp from northbound Interstate 25 to eastbound Interstate 76 was closed for about three hours after a 11:31 a.m. crash between a SUV and a tractor-trailer, said Trooper Josh Lewis, spokesman for the Colorado State Patrol.
The elderly driver of the SUV was killed. The identity and gender of the tractor-trailer driver has not been released.
Westbound Interstate 70 was closed at Georgetown after a Pontiac rolled near Silverthorne. The driver of the car was killed in the 11:36 a.m. crash, Lewis said. The identity and gender of the accident victim has not been released.
In the third accident at 11:17 a.m., a tanker-trailer carrying crude oil rolled into a ditch near East 160th Avenue and Riverdale Road in Adams County, Lewis said. Oil leaked into the ditch, he said.
Hazardous waste officials responded to the scene.
Lewis said it’s too early in each of the investigations to conclude whether snow or icy roads contributed to the crashes.
“Any time there is snow in the mountains there are fender benders, slide-offs and accidents all over the place,” he said.
The city of Aurora went on accident alert at about 2:30 p.m.
Flakes began to fall in downtown Denver around 11 a.m. and although the streets are wet, so far there has been no accumulation.
The storm will clear out of the Denver area around 4 a.m. Friday morning, according to the forecast.
It will be mostly sunny Friday through Monday. Temperatures will rise from a high of 38 degrees on Friday, to 53 on Saturday and 62 on Sunday and Monday, according to the weather service.
