Major snowstorm hits Colorado, closing schools, government offices and highways
A major snowstorm is hitting Colorado, closing numerous schools and government offices and shutting down sections of highways leading to the Denver area
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A major snowstorm has hit Colorado, closing numerous schools and government offices Thursday and shutting down sections of highways leading to the Denver area as meteorologists warned of difficult to nearly impossible travel.
“Our city hasn’t seen a storm like this in a few years,” Denver Mayor Mike Johnston posted Wednesday on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The storm, which began Wednesday night, wasn't expected to wind down until Friday. The heaviest snow accumulations were expected in the Front Range Mountains and Foothills, with a large area expected to get 18 to 36 inches (45 to 91 centimeters), and some amounts exceeding 4 feet (1.2 meters), the National Weather Service said.
Sections of Interstate 70 were closed in the Colorado mountains.
“Huge flakes coming down hard,” the weather service's office in Boulder posted on social media early Thursday.
The storm started as rain in the Denver area and turned into snow. The area was expected to get 10 to 20 inches (25 to 50 centimeters) of snow, with up to 2 feet (60 centimeters) in the western suburbs, the weather service said.
Denver deployed 36 residential plows starting at 3 a.m. Thursday with the plan to shave the top few inches of snow off streets, to help clear paths to main streets.
Denver International Airport was open early Thursday, but at least several hundred flights to and from there were canceled or delayed, according to Flightaware.com.
The snowstorm comes as other parts of the country face severe weather. Massive chunks of hail pelted parts of Kansas and Missouri on Wednesday night, with storms unleashing a possible tornado in Kansas.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.