Heavy snow delays schools, slows morning commute

DENVER — A surprisingly powerful snow storm hit metro Denver Thursday morning, wreaking havoc on the morning commute and causing numerous school delays and closures.

The storm came to an end mid-morning, but not before dropping 1-9″ of snow accumulation in some metro area locations.

The snow arrived quickly between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. and fell at a rapid rate, making it difficult for plows to keep the snow from piling up on highways.

Slick conditions resulted in numerous accidents, most of them minor. (Check Denver Traffic Conditions)

Snow and wind closed westbound Interstate 70 from westbound C-470 to Silverthorne and eastbound I-70 from Vail to Idaho Springs. The interstate reopened in both directions by 10:30 a.m.

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center issued an Avalanche Warning Thursday for the Front Range mountains as well as the areas around Vail and in Summit County.

U.S. Highway 6 over Loveland Pass and U.S. 40 over Berthoud Pass were also closed.

Xcel Energy said about 15,000 customers were without electricity in metro Denver as of 6 a.m. Thursday. Spokesman Mark Stutz said most of the outages were in the Denver-Boulder area west of I-25. He also said it could take crews into Friday and possibly the weekend to get power fully restored. (to report an Xcel power outage, call 1-800-895-1999)

Snowfall totals ranged from 8 inches in Highlands Ranch to 3.5-inches in Denver, 9” in Littleton, 8” in Castle Rock, 2” in Westminster and 4” in Wheat Ridge. (view official snowfall totals)