Denver Bears Brunt of Broad Plains Storm

A broad storm spread snow across the western Plains on Sunday, with Denver bearing the brunt of drifts and low visibility that slowed traffic and closed two airport runways.

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.

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

Visibility Near Zero

Northerly winds gusted to 40 m.p.h., causing considerable blowing and drifting in the Denver area, with visibility near zero at times. Transit officials reported 15- to 20-minute delays on regular bus service because of poor visibility and slippery streets.

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%, from about 70 to 32 per hour, and were delayed by up to 1 1/2 hours.

Travelers’ advisories warning of snow were posted for parts of Colorado, northeastern New Mexico, eastern Wyoming, northwestern Kansas, southwestern Nebraska and the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Elsewhere, showers and thunderstorms were scattered over the southern half of the Atlantic Coast, and rain fell over parts of the lower Mississippi, Tennessee and middle Missouri valleys.