Blizzard 2005 - Anyone getting hammered in this localized Colorado snow storm?

[Marc]

Anyone getting hammered in this localized Colorado snow storm? From ABC News - DENVER Apr 10, 2005

Hundreds of travelers were stranded at the Denver airport and along highways Sunday as a blizzard blew across eastern Colorado with wet, heavy snow.

Seven to 10 inches of snow was forecast in Denver and up to 30 inches was possible in the foothills west of Denver, Colorado Springs and Boulder, the National Weather Service said.

"I can see just across the street and that's it," Heather Vansickler said at the Country Store in Palm Lake, 45 miles south of Denver.

Fat, moisture-laden snowflakes were blown sideways by wind gusting to 30 mph. Xcel Energy reported that 11,000 customers were without power in the heavily populated Front Range region.

United Airlines, the biggest carrier at Denver International Airport, canceled all flights for the day, though airport spokesman Steve Snyder said other carriers were still hoping to get some flights out.

Hundreds of people were stranded at the airport, many stretching out on couches and the floor, using coats for pillows, or waiting in slow-moving lines at fast-food restaurants in the terminal.

"I need a drink and the lines are an hour-long to get one," traveler Brandi Hoenig said.

She and her husband, Jim, were on their way home to Cocoa, Fla., after a honeymoon ski trip, but their flight was canceled and all nearby hotels were filled. "We can't get a flight until Tuesday afternoon," Jim Hoenig said.

Whiteout conditions shut down a 16-mile stretch of heavily traveled Interstate 25 between Denver and Colorado Springs, 60 miles to the south. I-70 was closed in both directions in the Denver area. The state Department of Transportation said crews reported whiteout conditions on Interstate 76 near the Nebraska state line.

About 300 truckers waited out the storm at the TA Truck Stop along I-70 in Wheat Ridge, said general manager Richard Lemm. "It looks like they're going to be here most of the day. There are a lot more coming in than going out," he said.

A shelter was also set up at a church about 90 miles east of Denver in Limon.

Madeline Rebol, 16, and her father, Dave, said they would spend the night after it took them nearly five hours to drive 70 miles from Colorado Springs, where she was supposed to participate in a volleyball tournament that was canceled.

"You could barely see in front of you," Madeline Rebol said. "The roads weren't quite so bad, but there were cars off the road about every 20 to 30 feet."

Three state-run prisons in Denver were also closed to visitors by weather for the first time ever, said Alison Morgan, spokeswoman for the state corrections department.

The storm, which struck western Colorado on Saturday, was expected to blow out of the area late Sunday, mostly turning to rain over the Plains.

A similar storm system in March 2003 paralyzed much of the greater Denver area with 3 feet of wet, slushy snow that destroyed trees and damaged homes.

[WALLACE]

Nope,
But I was saying to my wife yesterday as, we walked along a local beech.
"Yes it's a beautiful day, but were certainly due another hit before we get into real spring".
Wallace