Storm Lashes Colorado, Wyoming : Snowfall of 25 Inches Shuts Down Schools, Closes State Offices

A snowstorm buried Colorado and Wyoming with up to 25 inches of snow Monday, closing schools, delaying flights and shutting down Wyoming’s state government in Cheyenne.

The storm also closed down the northern Colorado college town of Fort Collins, where students took the day off and many got around campus on cross-country skis.

State authorities in Wyoming closed state offices for the day and told all 4,500 government workers to stay home. All schools were also closed.

‘Prevent a Disaster’

“We’re trying to prevent a disaster rather than compound one,” said Secretary of State Thyra Thomson.

A blizzard warning was posted over south-central Wyoming, much of which was covered by 10 to 25 inches of snow. Gusty winds of up to 50 m.p.h. reduced visibility to near zero and created snowdrifts of up to 6 feet.

A National Weather Service forecaster in Cheyenne warned that the storm was a dangerous one and advised residents to “take all survival travel precautions.”

The Cheyenne Municipal Airport was closed Monday after two snowplows broke down. “We couldn’t keep up with it (drifting snow),” airport manager John Wood said.

6 Inches in Denver

The storm brought up to 17 inches of snow to Fort Collins and 6 inches to downtown Denver, snarling morning rush hour traffic and giving thousands of schoolchildren the day off. Denver was expected to get another 8 inches overnight, forecasters said.

Flights in and out of Denver’s Stapleton International Airport were delayed by several hours.

Classes were canceled at Colorado State University in Fort Collins for the first time in 16 years. City and county offices also were forced to shut down.

Fort Collins Highway Patrol dispatcher Troy Fluharty said roads were open, but they were “icy, snowpacked, and the snow is drifting almost faster than our plows can plow it out.”

Advisories Posted

Travelers’ advisories due to snow and slippery roads were in effect for southern and central Wyoming, as well as for west-central Utah, eastern Colorado and western Nebraska. A travelers’ advisory was posted over northern New Mexico and the New Mexico mountains.

Travelers’ advisories extended across most of Kansas, northern and central Missouri and southwestern South Dakota because of a mixture of light snow and freezing rain. Advisories also were posted for northwestern Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle due to dense fog and freezing drizzle.

The storm had hovered over Utah for much of the weekend, and by Monday Snowbird Ski Resort, about 45 miles east of Salt Lake City, had received 46 inches of new snow, said weather service meteorologist William Alder.

More than 2 feet of snow fell at some valley locations in Utah, and a snow slide closed the highway through Little Cottonwood Canyon near Salt Lake City.