Season’s First Snowstorm Sweeps Plains States

Up to eight inches of snow fell Saturday on the northern and western Plains during the season’s first major snowstorm as cold air spilling out of Canada dropped temperatures below freezing.

Winds gusted to more than 80 m.p.h. in northern Utah, downing power lines and dragging a teen-age boy playing with a parachute over a house and slamming him into a wall.

A winter storm warning was posted across south-central Wyoming, and winds gusting to 35 m.p.h. reduced visibility to near zero in blowing snow, the National Weather Service said.

Four to eight inches of snow fell during the night near Rawlins, Wyo., and briefly closed Interstate 80, the service reported.

Temperature Plummets

Temperatures were in the 20s and 30s from the northern and central Rockies across the northern and central Plains, after a high of 73 on Friday in Denver.

Snowfall tapered off Saturday over most of Wyoming, but snow continued to blow and drift in southern Wyoming, where the Highway Patrol reported a number of minor accidents.

“They are mostly interspersed in south-central Wyoming,” a patrol spokeswoman said. “If there’s a road, we’ve had an accident on it.”

Five inches of snow fell at Deadwood, S.D., in the Black Hills, and at Echo Lake, Colo., with four inches reported at Boulder and Wondervu, Colo., and three inches at Lander, Wyo.

Two inches fell at Wheatridge, Colo.; Leadville, Colo.; Cheyenne, Wyo.; Casper, Wyo.; Douglas, Wyo.; Alliance, Neb., and Goodland, Kan.

Cuts Visibility

The Colorado State Patrol reported wet to snowpacked conditions on major highways, and low visibility from snow or fog.

Light snow spread as far east as western Nebraska and northwestern Kansas, where the weather service warned of the first hard freeze of the season.

Wind gusts up to 40 m.p.h. were reported at Hill City, Kan.

Snowpacked, slippery roads in parts of western Nebraska caused several accidents. Heavy rain in more easterly parts of the state caused minor flooding.

Winds Rake Utah

Livestock advisories were issued that warned of a mixture of cold rain, snow and wind over Nebraska and western and north-central Kansas.

High wind raked the western slopes of Utah’s Wasatch Mountains. A gust to 84 m.p.h. was clocked at Centerville.

At Kaysville, where gusts of more than 60 m.p.h. were reported, an 18-year-old was playing with a parachute when the wind pulled him out of his yard, dragged him over the roof of a house and slammed him into a wall, police said. He was listed in serious condition at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center.