Colorado Politics

Road closures, power outages and more as Front Range digs out after weekend snowstorm

As the fourth-largest snowstorm in Denver history came to an end Monday, the metro area was dealing with the after effects of receiving 27.1 inches of snow.

The city of Denver was on accident alert from noon Saturday until Monday morning as the area suffered from icy and snow-packed roads and low visibility.

According to the Denver Police Department, officers responded to 60 stuck vehicles from Saturday to Monday, including 50 stuck vehicles at Denver International Airport. Officers rescued more than 100 people from their cars.

In addition, there were 77 reported car crashes in Denver between Saturday night and Monday morning, police said.

Dangerous road conditions have also resulted in the closure of several interstates and highways, including Interstate 70 east of Denver which was closed for several hours but reopened at 2:30 p.m.

Current closures include Interstate 25 from Wellington to the Colorado state line, Interstate 76 from Sterling to Wiggins, Highway 85 from Nunn to the state line and Highway 287 from Teds Place to the state line, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.

RTD suspended all bus services Monday due to the poor road conditions. Light rail services continued with delays, expect for the R Line which closed Monday due to excessive snow on portions of the track.

On Sunday, RTD also suspended light rail service at 7 p.m. due to dangerous conditions. The A Line to the airport reopened at 3:15 a.m. and the rest of the lines resumed service at around noon.

As of 2 p.m. Monday, there were about 60 plows working to clear the Denver metro area, including 23 residential plows targeting neighborhood streets.

“CDOT, county, and city plows are all out working hard to clear the roads the best they can but we would like to reiterate to please stay home if you are able,” Colorado State Patrol said. “Many drivers have ventured out and slid off the roadway or crashed because it is very slick out.”

CSP is also asking residents to wait until the late afternoon to retrieve cars that were abandoned or towed during the storm Sunday night.

To find vehicles left on highways, drivers should return to the area where they left their vehicle and travel in the same direction, taking the first exit available. Towed vehicles will be moved to the largest parking lot from the off-ramp.

For those unable to locate their vehicle, CSP will provide a complete list of tow companies used in this storm once it is compiled.

In addition to traffic issues, the snowstorm also resulted in extensive power outages throughout the state, with tens of thousands of Coloradans experiencing power outages Sunday, according to Xcel Energy data.

On Sunday, more than 152,000 Xcel customers experienced power outages, though around 56,000 were momentary outages caused by wind pushing power lines into each other.

By late Sunday night, more than 25,000 Xcel customers were without power, including 24,871 in northern Colorado. Fewer than 500 Xcel customers in the Denver metro area were still experiencing outages by 10 p.m. Sunday.

At 7 a.m. Monday, about 17,000 Xcel customers were without power near Greeley, 4,000 near Fort Collins and 300 near Denver. At 2:30 p.m., 10,000 were still without power near Greeley, 1,500 near Fort Collins and 260 near Denver.

Xcel said the power outages are because of heavy snow and high winds displacing power lines and damaging utility poles. Some utility poles have also been damaged by drivers crashing into them while sliding off of icy roads.

“One of the reasons this storm was so impactful was that it produced heavy, wet snow,” the National Weather Service said. “This type of snow is able to easily stick to objects like power lines and branches.”

The National Weather Service said it has received numerous reports of broken tree branches damaging homes and vehicles, with the majority of cases happening in and around Fort Collins.

The National Weather Service announced the official end of the snowstorm at 6:25 a.m. Monday; however, more snow is predicted for Tuesday afternoon as well as the upcoming weekend.

Tags denver

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