The first snowstorm of the season on Monday led to power failures throughout the day, and some Xcel Energy customers could still be without power Tuesday morning.
Crews worked through the day restoring power. Some customers were back online quickly, but many suffered sustained outages, Xcel spokesman Mark Stutz said.
In the morning and early afternoon, 98,000 customers were affected by the storm. About 54,200 remained without power for a sustained period, he said.
The day started with a couple of transmission lines out and about 12,000 customers without power, mostly in the Boulder and metro Denver areas, Stutz said.
By 10:38 a.m. showed 23,590 customers without power. “It is kind of a fluid situation,” he said.
Four hours later, 25,336 customers were without power, most in metro Denver.
A total of 235 Xcel and contract employees, including linemen and tree trimmers, were working through the night.
Just before 8:30 p.m., the map showed 480 outages affecting 6,766 customers, mostly in the southwest metro area. Stutz said Xcel expected to return power to most of them during the night.
He said the number of those without power Tuesday morning should be cut to about 600.
Stutz warned residents not to shake the snow from their trees without being sure a quantity of snow won’t fall on nearby power or telephone lines.
Afternoon snow totals ranged from 2½ inches at Denver International Airport to nearly a foot in foothills locations, including Genesee and Eldorado Springs, according to the National Weather Service.
Slick roads led to some crashes. And in the foothills, multiple crashes shut down Interstate 70 in both directions before 9 a.m. between Genesee and Morrison.
The westbound lanes reopened about 9:35 a.m., the eastbound lanes by about 11 a.m., Colorado Department of Transportation spokesman Mike Murray said.
Colorado 119 through Boulder Canyon also closed because of multiple crashes. It reopened about 12:30 p.m.
Snow plows and crews were on the job throughout the metro area on Monday morning. Although roads were wet and slushy in some places, snow didn’t pile up.
“Plows are not able to do a whole lot scraping against pavement,” Murray said.
There was a freeze warning in place for the Denver area until 10 a.m. Tuesday. A hard freeze was forecast for Monday night. Temperatures were expected to drop to about 25 degrees, the weather service said.
The rest of the week will be mostly sunny, and temperatures will be on the rise. By Thursday, the high could be 71.
The highs will drop back into the 60s on Friday and Saturday and into the upper 50s on Sunday, the weather service said.
CLOSED- WB/EB I-70 @ Morrison,MM 259,to Genesee,MM 254 b/c major crash;Expect extended closure
— Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) (@ColoradoDOT)
Denver roads wet and slushy, watch for ice. Snowy conditions on the I-70 mountain corridor.
— Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) (@ColoradoDOT)
NB University closed at Dakota due to down power lines. Use alternate routes
— Denver Police Dept. (@DenverPolice)
