Denver: The most powerful storm of the winter season pounded Colorado and parts of neighbouring states on Friday, creating whiteout conditions on the eastern plains, cancelling more than 600 flights in Denver and closing hundreds of kilometres of highway between major Colorado cities and the Kansas border.
Snow piled up to 1.8 metres on some Rocky Mountain foothills — and it was a welcome boost to several ski resorts that have suffered below-average snowfall this season. But while Echo Mountain and other resorts close to Denver celebrated up to one metre of powder, the storm only dusted larger resorts, like Vail, with a few inches in central Colorado's Rockies.
"It's been fantastic," said Scott Gales, a spokesman for Echo Mountain about 40 kilometres west of Denver. "We only had about 26 or 27 inches this morning. Now we're over 40 and it's still snowing at the rate of an inch or two an hour."
The Colorado Avalanche Information Centre issued warnings for slopes east of the Continental Divide until noon yesterday, saying 60 centimetres or more of new snow could easily overrun the weak, existing snow pack.
Blizzard conditions hit Colorado's eastern plains, with 1.5-metre drifts in parts of Elbert County. Severe weather struck parts of southeast Wyoming, western Kansas and Nebraska, where a band of heavy snow stalled, dumping nearly 33 centimetres in some spots.
Icy snow made driving difficult as far south as New Mexico.
A winter storm warning remained in effect for a broad swath of the western and central plains from northeastern Colorado, across most of Nebraska, and into northeastern Kansas and southeastern Iowa. A blizzard warning was lifted in Colorado but remained for four counties in western Nebraska.
Snow was still falling Friday night, with another 5 to 10 centimetres expected in Denver and northeastern Colorado. It was expected to taper off yesterday as the storm moved east.
Earlier Friday, near-zero visibility forced officials to close all 257 kilometres of westbound Interstate 70 between the Kansas state line and Denver. A 112-kilometre stretch of eastbound I-70 from Denver to the plains town of Limon (LYE-min) also was closed. Highway officials said the freeway would likely remain closed overnight Friday.
