Coloradans still digging out from under the remnants of last week’s blizzard had to contend Thursday with the arrival of a second major holiday-season snowstorm that forecasters said could add up to 30 more inches of snow.
Greyhound canceled bus service in and out of Colorado, and airlines idled about 20 percent of their flights at Denver International Airport. Semis jackknifed on icy highways, cars slid into ditches, RTD buses were stuck. Local officials cast worried glances at the sky and encouraged commuters to stay home from work today.
“There is the potential that this storm could be as intense or more intense than the last one that hit us,” said Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, who found some solace in the fact that the snow appeared to be falling at a slower pace than last week’s storm.
Denver district and county courts and Aurora city offices will be closed today.
Gov. Bill Owens declared the second statewide disaster emergency in a little over a week and reactivated the Colorado National Guard. Hickenlooper said he had redeployed resources to residential areas, hoping to avoid the much maligned response that left the city’s neighborhood streets packed with snow and ice for more than a week after the last blizzard.
Metro-area public officials said they had mobilized an unprecedented response aimed at avoiding the disastrous results of the pre-Christmas blizzard that shut down DIA, postal service and shopping malls.
Denver officials also re-enacted an ordinance that hadn’t been enforced since 1982 and said they would tow vehicles that parked on the 1,200 lane miles that make up the city’s major snow routes.
As of Thursday evening, the airport and most of the state’s major highways remained open, though slippery driving conditions were reported throughout the metro area. Chain requirements for commercial vehicles were in effect on Denver-area interstates and state highways.
Austin Geddis, 34, of Aurora was concerned about the projected snowfall amounts with this storm.
“I didn’t get all dug out from the last one, so I’m probably gonna be in trouble,” Geddis said. “I might not be able to get our car out of the driveway after this one. Who knows?”
Greg Tyson of Arvada took off early from his insurance-company job and filled his gas tank at the King Soopers in Wheat Ridge as snow and rain fell steadily about 2 p.m.
“Who knows when I’ll get another tankful?” he said, pumping unleaded into his Ford Windstar van, heavy resignation in his voice. “I’m going home to get my wife’s car, then we’re going to the grocery store to see if there’s anything left.”
A stretch of Interstate 70 from Georgetown to the Eisenhower Tunnel was closed for a few hours Thursday afternoon as a result of multiple accidents and severe weather.
About 40 cars, three buses and eight semi-tractor trailer trucks were stuck in a ditch off Interstate 70 near the Golden exit Thursday evening.
“It’s very hazardous out there,” said Virginia Quiñones, Denver police spokeswoman. “We’re suggesting that anyone who does not have to be out there stay in.”
Police didn’t have any specific “trouble” areas Thursday evening, except South Sheridan Boulevard northbound between West Hampden Avenue and West Yale Avenue. Quiñones described the area as an “ice-skating rink.”
Still, some remained optimistic.
Andrew Booz, 49, of Denver came into a bookstore from out of the snow but said he doesn’t expect this storm to be as bad as last week’s.
“I moved to Colorado 13 years ago for the lifestyle, and part of that is the snow,” Booz said.
Snow-weary Denver officials promised an aggressive response but cautioned that, to a certain extent, the city’s fate was in the hands of Mother Nature.
Hickenlooper said the city had mobilized up to 180 vehicles, including more than 50 light trucks with plows that normally clear snow from city parks and city facilities. Those light trucks were redeployed to immediately address residential areas this time. In past major storms, those residential areas weren’t addressed until after plows had hit major routes, the mayor said.
Denver also enlisted drivers and 11 vehicles from Denver Public Schools and hired contractors.
“The response and equipment we are putting in place is unprecedented in city history,” Hickenlooper said.
Thursday afternoon, though, as snow continued to fall, two city vehicles cleared snow from areas in Washington Park while residential streets with slippery conditions were ignored.
“That’s not supposed to be there, and we’ll check on that,” the mayor said.
Hickenlooper and Denver Public Works manager Bill Vidal encouraged commuters to stay home today and urged neighbors to help one another cope with the storm.
“We all need to work together to get through this,” Vidal said. “We’re talking historic levels of snow, and I think it’s important to remember that.”
Across the metro area, city and county officials worried that the most recent storm could all but erase their efforts of the past eight days to clear city streets and haul away snow.
“Even 12 inches would be tough for us,” said Felix Gallo, Boulder’s coordinator for transportation and utility maintenance. “There’s no place left to plow it to.”
While some municipalities had made significant progress to clear side and residential streets after last week’s storm, others began tackling those streets only in the past couple of days, in an attempt to clear as much snow as they could before the next storm hit.
Andrea Rasizer, a spokeswoman for Arapahoe County, said crews began breaking ice on residential streets Wednesday and couldn’t possibly get the job done before Thursday’s storm, meaning that fresh snow on top of chunky, hard-packed ice was an inevitability.
“Unfortunately, there’s not much we can do about that,” Rasizer said.
Nancy Reubert, a spokeswoman for Centennial, said that, for snow crews, the latter of the two storms could be the worse.
“This stuff on top of the hardpack will make it impossible,” she said. “We could be in a world of hurt here. I’ve never seen two large blizzards back to back like this. And I’ve lived here many years.”
Staff writer Christopher N. Osher can be reached at 303-954-1747 or cosher@denverpost.com.
Staff writers Kim McGuire, John Ingold, Felisa Cardona, Joey Bunch, Allison Sherry, Manny Gonzales and Chuck Plunkett contributed to this report.
For help and information during storm
ROAD CLOSURES, CONDITIONS AND TRAVEL INFORMATION
Call the Colorado Department of Transportation at 303-639-1111, or go to its website at cotrip.org.
IF YOU NEED A TOW
Consult local yellow pages under “towing” or call 303-555-1212 for directory assistance.
POWER OUTAGES
Call Xcel Energy at 800-895-1999, or go to its website at xcelenergy.com.
REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION DISTRICT INFORMATION
Go to RTD-denver.com, or call 303-299-6000.
SHELTERS
For the American Red Cross Mile High Chapter, call 303-722-7474.
As of Thursday, the following shelters were open:
Douglas County sheriff’s substation, 9350 Heritage Hills Circle, Lone Tree
Auraria Campus – St. Cajetan’s Church, 1190 Ninth Street, Denver.
Silverthorne Recreation Center, 430 Rainbow Drive, Silverthorne.
FOR CABLE PROBLEMS
Call Comcast at 800-COMCAST (266-2278), DirecTV at 888-777-2454, Qwest at 888-777-9569 or Dish Network at 888-825-2557.
DENVER CITY GOVERNMENT
Residents who have snow-related inquiries may call 311.
AURORA
Residents are advised to call 303-739-7000 for snow-related inquiries throughout the weekend.
EMERGENCIES
Call 911.
Rebooking a flight?
All major airlines have waived their fees for changing flight arrangements into and out of Denver International Airport this week. For more information about the status of flights or for details about how to rebook tickets, go to your airline’s website or call the airline directly.
United Airlines, 800-864-8331, united.com
Frontier Airlines, 800-432-1359, frontierairlines.com
American Airlines, 800-433-7300, aa.com
Southwest Airlines, 800-435-9792, southwest.com
For information about the status of DIA, go to flydenver.com or call 800-247-2336.
