Major Snow Storm Targets Denver Area
By
Joe Sutton, CNN
Updated 3:18 AM EST, Fri February 3, 2012
Light snow started falling in Denver on Thursday as it braces for a major winter storm that is expected to blast some areas with up to two feet in a few days. Parts of the region could be plowing out of two feet of snow by Saturday when conditions are expected to gradually taper off.
The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning starting Thursday evening along the Interstate 25 corridor, including the city of Denver. Areas east of the city are under a blizzard warning, where snowfall rates of up to 2 inches per hour are expected.
The warnings will remain in effect into late Friday evening. With the approaching storm expected to cause numerous delays, Denver International Airport announced it had up to 180 cancellations. "This number is very fluid," said Jenny Schiavone, a spokeswoman at the airport. The airport has nearly 300 pieces of snow equipment and a team of approximately 500 trained snow removal personnel who will work throughout the duration of the storm.
An avalanche watch is posted for the Front Range and Sangre de Cristo mountains until Friday morning. A rapid heavy snow load addition onto the currently weak snowpack structure will quickly raise the avalanche danger Friday, according to The Colorado Avalanche Information Center website. The storm will be slow moving, so a prolonged period of snow will occur through early Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.
With winds gusting 40 mph or higher, blowing snow will make visibility at times near zero and travel on roads could be treacherous, if not impossible. A number of school districts in the Denver Metro area have announced closures on their websites, including Denver Public Schools, Jefferson County Public Schools and Douglas County Schools.
Temperatures are expected to remain into the 30's into early next week.