Storm Blocks Denver Flights, Kansas Roads

A broad storm spread snow across the western Plains on Sunday, with drifts and low visibility slowing traffic and closing two airport runways in Denver and shutting down highways in Kansas.

Two deaths were blamed on the storm.

A low-pressure system over Kansas spread the snow from northeastern New Mexico across eastern Colorado, southeastern Wyoming and northwestern Nebraska to southwestern South Dakota.

About 360 miles of Interstate 70 was closed from just east of Denver to Hays, Kan., due to wind, freezing drizzle and blowing snow. Several federal and state highways in both states also were ordered closed.

At Colby, Kan., about 50 miles from the Colorado line, city officials opened the community center and National Guard armory to house about 500 stranded motorists.

One man was killed and the pilot critically injured when a 1976 Cessna 177 RG crashed about 4 1/2 miles south of Colby, officials said. A third man reportedly was uninjured.

An icy roadway near Wasta, S.D., was blamed for a traffic accident that killed a 19-year-old woman, authorities said.

Winter storm warnings were issued for eastern Colorado’s Front Range, including the Denver area, where 12 inches had fallen by afternoon.

The two east-west runways at Denver’s Stapleton International Airport were closed by high wind and poor visibility. The two north-south runways remained open, but arriving flights were cut by 50%.