1 of 2 | An 18-wheeler is stranded along a stretch of U.S. Interstate 70 after a blizzard prompted the closure a 90 mile stretch of the freeway Thursday. Photo courtesy of Colorado State Patrol/X.
A foot or more of snow brought Denver to a standstill Thursday, closing schools, snarling traffic, disrupting travel and delighting skiers as March continued as the snowiest month in recent history for Colorado’s capital city.
Safety concerns prompted the Colorado Department of Transportation to close stretches of Interstate 70 on Thursday, including a 90-mile stretch between mile markers 169 and 259, which will remain closed until at least noon Friday, the department said on X. Advertisement
“If you have to ask ‘How do I get there?’ the answer is, you can’t,” the Colorado State Patrol said on X.
The foothills around Denver are expected to get as much as five feet of snow before all is said and done, AccuWeather said.
As of Thursday morning, 800 flights had been canceled at the Denver International Airport and as many as 120,000 customers were without power Thursday afternoon.
A Winter Storm Warning remains in effect until mid morning on Friday.
Heavy snow in March is not unusual for Denver. Four of the city’s top 20 snowstorms have happened between March 13 and 22 — and 10 have occurred in March or April. Advertisement
Parts of Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona are also seeing heavy snow.
